Atticus and the Death of Superman
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: In the Justiceverse, Atticus keeps getting closer and closer in finding out his big family secret about where his birth parents could be hiding as a relative of his comes over to help him out. However, things start to get rocky between Atticus and Clark as of late.
1. Chapter 1

For Atticus, it was a normal day of school so far. Today was a new day of a new week which meant he would be finding out more of a certain puzzle he was given that would involve solving his family secret after he found out that his parents were still alive and not dead like he thought they were for years. There was always a condition that he could have a new clue every week from his new friend Thor's uncle who lived in the Magic Realm out of the Mortal Realm, but that would be it as the warlock was told to never flat out say where Atticus's long-lost parents were, but luckily, he had his friends there to help him out with solving this family secret.

"I still can't wait for the next clue." Atticus smiled before he felt something moving in his backpack.

"It's killing me, man!" Thor replied. "We just gotta solve this!"

"I'm glad I have friends like you to help me out with it." Atticus said before glancing at his backpack.

"...Dude, your bag is moving like a Mexican Jumping Bean." Thor soon said to him.

"Hmm... And I think I know why." Atticus said as he opened his backpack and was greeted by his pet.

Patch poked his head out.

"You're supposed to be back home." Atticus told the dog.

"I missed you." Patch pouted.

"Patch, I'll be back after school." Atticus smiled.

Patch still pouted a bit.

"C'mon, I better get you out of here before Mr. Kraft sees you," Atticus said. "He's strict with rules, he'll probably hit the roof if he sees a dog in school."

"Ouch." Thor said as he rubbed his head at the idea of someone hitting the roof.

"Alright." Patch pouted.

"I promise, 3:00 won't be far away," Atticus smiled. "I'm sure you'll find some other things to do without me."

Patch crawled out of Atticus's backpack and began to leave school to go back home, looking a little sad about leaving his human. Atticus soon began to make his way in school. The hallways seemed to be empty.

"What...?" Atticus asked with despair.

"Looks like someone has detention today." Mr. Kraft's voice scolded.

"That's impossible; I was sure I wouldn't be late." Atticus said.

"I'm afraid you are, Mr. Kent," Mr. Kraft said as he gave Atticus a detention slip. "I'll see you after school."

Atticus narrowed his eyes a bit as he took the slip before going to class. "I was so sure I had arrived at school on time." He said to himself.

"It's not your fault," Cherry told Atticus as he came to sit down. "Kraft just loves to watch us all suffer."

"He's strict, Cherry, but he's not diabolical." Atticus replied.

"If you say so," Cherry said. "Also, tonight's supposed to be another clue for your puzzle board."

"That's great." Atticus smiled.

"I wonder what it'll be this time?" Cherry remarked.

"Hopefully something to make the puzzle make more sense." Atticus hoped before sitting up as the teacher came into the room to start class for the day.

* * *

Patch sighed as he came to the living room of the house, feeling a little sad and lonely. "What am I supposed to do while I wait for Atticus?" He asked himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Magic Realm, Drell had to visit some other place before he came to see Atticus and his friends for the weekly clue.

"Ugh... Must I go? I hate that place..." Drell groaned as he took out a scroll that said he was invited to a lunch at a special school in the realm which was called Witchright Hall. "Stupid high status as the Head Witch in the Magic Council."

Skippy gave a look, telling him he had to go.

"Whatever..." Drell rolled his eyes. "You got the clue for me to give to Atticus this week?"

Skippy merely made a shrugging gesture.

"You don't have it? But then who does?!" Drell glared sharply sighing. "...Never mind... I'll probably find it at Witchright Hall. I might as well get this over with."

Skippy nodded as that was the smartest thing to do.

"Keep an eye on Enchantra for me." Drell said as he left to go to his luncheon at Witchright Hall.

* * *

At said school, there was a girl in her room who had dark brown hair like Atticus, but she had copper eyes and not ocean blue like his, as she read a book while sitting on her bed.

"Jessica, did you hear?" A brunette girl with light brown eyes asked as she came into the room where a cage was shown on a desk on the opposite side of the room closest to the door with another bed. "The Head of the Witch's Council is coming to Witchright Hall to visit us for lunch."

"Yeah, that's great." Jessica replied.

"Guess we better behave this time." The girl said to her roommate.

"Yeah, I guess so, Gwen." Jessica rolled her eyes a bit.

"Come on, Jessica." Gwen smiled.

"All right, all right, I guess I'm thinking about something else." Jessica said as she came off her bed to go over to her roommate/best friend.

Gwen smiled as Jessica came over before she brought out some lettuce for her guinea pig familiar. "Here you go, Stoney," she then said. "I think Jessica and I might be busy for a while if the Head of the Witch's Council is coming over for lunch with the students."

"Must be important or something." Stoney said as he ate the lettuce.

"I don't know, but I overheard Hexton talking about it on my way over after breakfast." Gwen replied.

"Gwen, you didn't eavesdrop, did you?" Jessica asked.

"...Not on purpose." Gwen smiled sheepishly.

"Good enough for me." Stoney shrugged.

Jessica rolled her eyes playfully at her best friend in school before she sighed a bit as she looked at a framed picture that was of a couple getting married. The woman had blonde hair with blue eyes that matched Atticus's blue eyes while the man had dark brown hair with brown eyes that almost looked like Atticus's hair with Jessica's eyes. The other students came out of their rooms together to come to the front of the school to meet the headmaster who was known as James Hexton as he brought them all there as they had a visitor today.

"This should be interesting." Jessica said.

"You know him personally, right?" Gwen asked Jessica.

"Well, sort of," Jessica replied. "He knew my parents when I was a little girl."

"Well, let's hope he goes easy on us," Gwen said. "My parents are afraid of him."

"Hopefully he will." Jessica said.

Drell soon walked by which scared the Witchright Hall students to stand up straight and sharp as they tried to be brave, though it was a bit hard to stay brave with him around.

"Good day, students." James greeted his students.

"Good day, Headmaster Hexton." The students replied.

"This is the Head of the Witch's Council, please treat him with a lot of respect and authority like you would with me." James told them as the bigger and taller warlock walked over beside him with a straight face.

* * *

As that was going on, Atticus had a normal day of school so far before he ate lunch with his friends in the cafeteria as he thought about his family secret.

"Hey, Atticus." Thor smiled.

"Hey, buddy." Atticus smiled back as he patted the seat next to him to come sit down.

"Glad to see you focused in school again." Thor said as he came to sit down.

"Same here." Atticus said.

"I wish I could be a superhero sometimes." Thor said as he ate his hamburger.

"I'm sure you will someday." Atticus chuckled.

Atticus soon got a text from home which was from Clark of course. "Gotta run into town: Big trouble for Superman".

"Must be some bad guy in a suit causing trouble for everyone." Thor said as took a peak at the text.

"Yeah, I think so too," Atticus replied. "Maybe I should go with him."

"But what about lunch?" Thor pouted from that.

"I'll be back quickly." Atticus told him.

"Hmm... Okay..." Thor replied.

"Cover for me." Atticus smiled as he dashed off to the boys' bathroom.

"I'll try." Thor said as he went back to his lunch before Atticus came back out in his superhero form to go help Superman downtown and where he would see who was causing trouble.

* * *

A car was speeding through town as today was not such a normal day anymore. Inside was a young blonde woman with an older man of a ca as they came to the streets together.

**_"NPD check-ups to Metropolis City Hall,"_** The radio said. **_"2078W in progress."_**

"Kidnapping with advanced weapons. Got to be Intergang," The man told the woman next to him as she drove the car. "They took out half the reserve with their tech weapons last week."

"Makes you nostalgic for missiles." The woman told him.

Police cars surrounded City Hall as some officers came out of their cars with guns ready to use. There was then an explosion as men came out of the building with metal suits with a couple of innocent hostages. One of the men soon shot at one of the police cars. The police officer there let out a yelp as he nearly died from that. Another man shot at another car and it exploded which sent the police officer flying from that and made him crash into another car.

"It's a lab they chose to blast at, Maggie." The man in the car said as the blonde woman swerved the car around from the chaos of town.

"These assholes are expecting something to wreck, Dan," Maggie smirked slightly. "Probably with a cape and a kid." She soon turned to a corner. "Lucky me I know a back way." Maggie smirked.

* * *

The SWAT team soon arrived at the metal men. The metal men just smirked as they were unfazed by the group. The SWAT team brought out their rifles and began to shoot at the villains, but it seemed futile to do so. One metal man soon walked over while shooting some cars out of the way and shot at the SWAT team with laser blasts. And where the laser blasts hit the vehicle behind the SWAT team, causing an explosion, blowing them away.

"Get Mr. Mayor and his better half out of here before we get in trouble from the man upstairs." The boss told his henchmen sharply.

"Didn't know you was a believer, Boss." One of the other men replied as he thought he meant God.

"That ain't the man upstairs I'm talking about." The boss glowered as they walked off.

And as they made their way to their comrade, he was hit and sent flying by a cop car.

"Step away from the Mayor, Mannheim," Dan glared as he stood over his car with Maggie as they held out their guns. "Don't give me a reason."

"Then you shouldn't have given me one," The boss glared back before he shot a blast at the car which made it fly off the road before Dan and Maggie fell over from behind as he gave orders to his other metal men. "You, make sure they're dead. Painfully sure. And you, grab our esteemed Mayor while I call for a ride."

One of the metal men made his way over to Dan as he got ready to strike him.

"Okay, I'll get you out of here." Dan told Maggie as she was in the car before he looked behind him and tried to shoot.

The metal man soon grabbed him by the throat and held him up high. Maggie groaned as she was bleeding, but she opened her eyes as she didn't seem quite dead.

"Come on, fella," Dan struggled a bit from his situation. "You don't want to be a cop killer."

"Yeah, why's that?" The metal man asked with a smirk.

Bullets suddenly shot at him which, of course, would not faze him. Maggie glared from the ground as she tried to shoot at him.

The metal man tried to strike at her with a metal tendril which suddenly got laser-cut. "Huh?" He soon felt two taps on his shoulders. This made him turn around to see some company.

"Hey, ever wonder what it feels like to fall from a great distance? Let's find out." Superman smirked as he grabbed the man before flying high up and dropping him flat onto the car.

"Ooh, looks like it hurts," Superboy smirked from that before he came to help Dan and Maggie. "Allow me to help you two."

"Thanks, Superboy." Dan said.

"Don't you have school, kid?" Maggie asked.

"You're welcome." Superboy shrugged from that.

"Be right back." Superman said as he came to one metal man before spinning around quickly like a tornado and punched down the man as he levitated briefly in the air which made him hit right on the road which left a crack in it.

"Ooh, that had to hurt." Superboy winced.

"Work, dammit! Stupid piece of crap!" Mannheim complained as he took out a cube which didn't seem to be working. "You're supposed to transport me on my command."

"Don't bother. Fried it with my heat vision," Superman said firmly as he flew over. "Only place you're being transported to, Mannheim, it's got three squares a day, and lights out at 8:00."

"Son of a-" Mannheim glared as he was about to shoot Superman only for him to miss as Superman dodged it with his super-speed before getting his weapon take by Superboy who flew at the same speed before appearing in front of him, only to miss as the Boy of Steel dodged his punch with his super-speed, causing his punch to hit the SWAT car.

Superboy smirked a bit.

Superman looked proud of him before smirking at the boss of the other metal men. "You know, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a bully," he then told Mannheim. "Guys like you give Metropolis a bad name."

Superboy took care of the others to tie them up before he saw his adoptive father/superhero mentor at the ringleader.

"But you should know by now, Mannheim," Superman smiled bravely and calmly. "No one tears my city apart and gets away with it."

"It's true." Superboy smiled.

"And shouldn't you be in school?" Superman asked his adoptive son.

"Aw, come on, Superman!" Superboy replied. "Crime doesn't stop for school."

"Maybe so, but I don't want you to get in trouble." Superman retorted.

"Alright." Superboy sighed before he flew off.

Superman decided to take care of Mannheim and his men from there after Superboy went back to school.

* * *

"I feel like I say this a couple of times a week but thanks, Superman," The Mayor said as he and his colleague made way for the ambulance. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"You sound like a guy who wants my vote, Mr. Mayor." Superman remarked from that.

"Hey, that's my friend." A man said before calling out to Superman. "Superman! Hey, it's me, your old buddy."

"Bibbo Bibbowski," Superman greeted the man with a small smile as they shook hands. "How is the unluckiest sailor in town?"

"Ah, come on. You ain't have to save my bacon that many times!" Bibbo replied. "Anyway, ain't no sailor no more. I'm a restaurateur. Ace O' Clubs Bar and Grill. How about a picture for the joint?" he then asked as he took out his phone.

"Yeah." Superman allowed it.

Bibbo was about to take a picture with Superman with his phone only for it to not work. "Stupid thing," The sailor grumbled from that with frustration. "Never works when you need it to."

"I got you covered." A young adult spoke up from the crowd with his camera.

"Jimmy Olsen, you're a lifesaver." Bibbo smiled to him.

"Say 'Superman'!" Jimmy smiled back as he held up his camera.

"Superman!" Bibbo beamed as Superman gave a small smile until the picture was taken. "Thanks, big guy."

"I'll make sure to get this to you, Mr. Bibbowski." Jimmy told him.

"See you down at the joint, kid," Bibbo smiled with a small wink as he took his leave. "The ribs are on me."

"Thanks, Jimmy. I really have to get going," Superman smiled at Jimmy before he touched his earpiece. "Leaguers, is anyone-"

Flash suddenly zipped by before he could finish asking that question.

"Available?" Superman finished dryly.

"'Sup?" Flash smirked as he arrived.

"I have to be somewhere, do you think you can handle the clean up?" Superman asked him.

"Oh, again?" Flash groaned from that. "I swear you guys think I'm some sort of one-man janitorial crew."

"Well, while you're at it, my apartment could use a going over," Cyborg teased as he flew over before he saw what had happened. "Whoa! What the hell have you been up against?"

"An Intergang crew that somehow caught a hold of another box." Superman replied.

Cyborg soon walked over to one of the pieces of the metal armor. "And that's not all," he then told the two with him as he took the piece off the ground. "This armor's from Apokolips, too."

"How'd you figure?" Flash asked.

"I'm wearing the same stuff, remember?" Cyborg reminded.

"Oh, great," Flash replied. "Leftovers from our war with Darkseid when we first met the kids."

"We need to get this analyzed, maybe one of the others can help." Superman said.

"No, we need someone who's worked with this crap," Cyborg said softly. "Someone who knows it inside and out. We need my dad."

"I can take it to him if you want; I know you two don't exactly-" Superman started.

"Nah, it's cool," Cyborg reassured. "No problem ever got better by avoiding it. Well, at least, I won't be slowing you down on cleanup. Later, partner." he then said as he took off.

"I owe you one, Flash." Superman added as he left as well.

"You owe me about 30!" Flash glared from that.

* * *

Back at Witchright Hall, the students did what they could to impress their school's visitor, though James was mostly sucking up so he could maybe become a council member instead of a school's headmaster, though someone caught Drell's attention more than anyone else in school.

"I'd like to have a word with one of your students, Hexton." Drell requested.

"Oh, of course, which one would wish to speak to?" James asked him.

"Jessica." Drell replied.

"Um... The Wiccan?" James asked.

"Yes, I'm very curious about her." Drell said.

"Erm... She very rarely uses her magic, it just makes me wonder how she would get enrolled here," James shrugged. "She doesn't seem to be the magical type."

"I wish to speak to her if you don't mind." Drell said firmly.

"Right! Right!" James said from fear as he dashed off.

"Fraidy cat." Drell rolled his eyes.

* * *

Eventually, Jessica came over as she stared down into her book.

"Hello, Jessie," Drell smirked playfully. "It's been a while. I think the last time I saw you, you were trying to get cookies after bedtime."

"I was a kid," Jessica defended. "But I'm guessing that's not why you wanted to talk to me, right, sir?"

"No, it's not," Drell replied. "It's about your family?"

Jessica's eyes widened before she asked, "What about my family?"

"Come with me, is there some place private we could talk?" Drell asked.

"Uh, well, Gwen took her guinea pig Stonehenge with her somewhere, so we could go to my dorm room," Jessica replied. "I don't have a familiar, so it'll be empty."

"That's good." Drell said.

They came into Jessica's room as she sat on her side of the room on her bed as Drell sat on the other bed.

"So, uh, what's this about my family?" Jessica asked. "I feel like I haven't seen them since... Well... You know..."

"Yes, but this is about getting out of here to see your little brother." Drell replied.

"M-My little brother?" Jessica asked.

"Yes," Drell replied. "What do you know about him?"

"Not a lot," Jessica said softly. "Ever since the tragedy happened, I tried to make a name for myself here in Witchright Hall. I was told I was going to be a big sister, then... Well... Mom and Dad were gone..."

"Well, you're going to be helping your brother find them." Drell said.

"I... I am...?" Jessica asked. "You mean... I have to leave?"

"Y-You wanna stay in a place you don't feel too happy in?" Drell prompted.

"No." Jessica shook her head.

"Then let's get you out of here, BUT!" Drell replied. "You are not allowed to tell Atticus about where your parents are until he can solve the family secret. I'm sorry, but those aren't my rules, but you can give him a clue for his puzzle."

"Okay." Jessica smiled.

"Do you understand?" Drell asked.

"Yes, sir." Jessica replied.

"All right, go pack up your stuff," Drell told her. "I'll go tell Hexton what's happening."

"Yes, sir." Jessica nodded.

* * *

The two then split up for that time.

"I'll miss you, Gwen and Stoney, but my little brother needs me." Jessica told herself as she packed her stuff to leave Witchright Hall.

Drell began to tell James what was happening.

"You're... You're taking Jessica away?" James asked.

"Yes," Drell replied. "It'll be good for her and her family with what's recently happened."

"Oh, uh, um, alright," James smiled sheepishly. "Well, we'll really miss her over here."

Drell soon made his way out.

"So, uh, are there any job openings at the Witch's Council?" James asked.

"None for butt-kissers!" Drell replied.

"Dang it." James groaned.

* * *

Jessica was still packing up her stuff manually.

"Ugh... You're too slow!" Drell told her as he used his magic to make her finish faster.

"Sorry, Drell, I guess I just don't put the Wiccan in Wiccan student." Jessica shrugged bashfully.

"Just remember, you _have_ magic; use your magic _sometimes_," Drell said. "Like for packing."

"Yes, sir." Jessica sighed a bit.

"Also, you can teach your little brother about it." Drell gave a small smile.

"Hmm... Sure!" Jessica brightened up a little bit from that.

"So then shall we go?" Drell asked.

"Lead the way." Jessica replied.

Drell nodded as he came to take her away from the magical boarding school as everybody told Jessica goodbye.

"Oh, I can't wait to meet my little brother." Jessica smiled.

"Just remember what I told you about your parents." Drell reminded.

"I'll do my best," Jessica said before taking out the picture she kept on her desk. "Can I at least show him this to help as a clue to the puzzle?"

"Hmm... Yes." Drell allowed.

"Great." Jessica smiled.

Drell took Jessica to his car and he drove down the road before the car began to fly in the air to take them away from the Magic Realm.

* * *

The other students waved and called out goodbye as Jessica left Witchright Hall, though she knew her only friend there was Gwen.

"So, where is my brother?" Jessica asked.

"I'll take you right to him," Drell replied. "He and his friends should be out of school by now to talk about the family secret, but remember, you have to keep your information quiet."

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember to keep it secret." Jessica frowned.

"Okay, I'll just erase your memory of them until your brother finds out where they are." Drell then said as he was about to zap her.

"I'll remember to keep it a secret, I promise!" Jessica panicked.

"All right..." Drell said.

"Phew..." Jessica sighed in relief from that.

"It might be a little late when we get there," Drell said. "I think your little brother promised to go somewhere after school today."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Back in Metropolis..._**

"Ugh, this secret is gonna kill me," Atticus groaned. "I promised Dad I'd come to his work after school today."

"I'm sure my uncle will understand." Thor said as he tried to make light of the situation.

"I just want to find out about my parents, but I also don't wanna break my promise to Dad." Atticus said.

"Hmm..." Thor frowned as he wasn't sure how to help his friend. "What if you went to see your dad, but if something happens, I'll call you?"

"Perfect." Atticus beamed before he took off as Superboy.

"I'll catch ya later!" Thor called out.

"Thanks, Thor, you're the best!" Atticus called back.

* * *

**_Meanwhile with Lois Lane..._**

"He's gonna take pictures with anyone who asks," she said to herself as she saw a front-page article on her phone with Superman's picture with Bibbo before she switched her phone to camera mode to straighten out her hair. "The guy just can't help himself," She soon saw two familiar heroes arriving from the reflection of her phone. "You said two minutes, tops." she told them firmly.

"Sorry, Miss Lane." Both of them replied softly.

"Tech-enhanced gangsters kidnapping the Mayor and other sort of distractions." Superman said with a small glance at Superboy.

"That was today?" Superboy asked about the other distractions to himself softly.

"I know. I saw it live," Lois rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you're not just getting old?"

"You'll have to tell me what that's like." Superman told Lois.

Superboy hid a small chuckle from that.

"Ha! Super touché." Lois replied as they walked down the hallway to go into a laboratory.

"Your stories about Superman and Superboy helped us earn the people's trust," Superman told Lois on the way over to one section as a rocket shown to be held up. "Now it's time they learned about the Kryptonian tech that brought the strange visitor from another planet to Earth. And here's the compartment that contained me as an infant." he then said.

"Whoa." Superboy whispered to himself.

"Throughout the trip, it was in charge of monitoring my genetic makeup as well as my basic metabolism." Superman then said.

"Amazing." Superboy said.

"Not to mention midnight feedings," Lois smirked a bit as she wrote down what the Man of Steel said to her. "How did it do all this?" she then asked him.

"I've only gotten so far studying Kryptonian technology," Superman replied as he gestured to the woman who was there at the computer. "That's why I handed the job over to Dr. Klyburn and her crew."

"Which we were more than happy to take on," Dr. Klyburn replied as she worked at the computer to make a mechanical arm come out to take what looked like a blue crystal. "Only recently have we discovered these super condensed ionized crystals. We believe they acted as hyperwave acceleration units for transport."

"Cool." Superboy smiled.

"Oh, the gas." Lois remarked.

"To put it simply," Dr. Klyburn said to her as she moved the arm to bring the crystal to Superman. "We pulled it from the main section of the pod, the baby's car seat, so to speak. It can only be activated one way."

"You might want to look away for a moment, Miss Lane." Superman advised as he knew what to do from there.

Lois soon looked away a bit before taking a look behind.

"Could I look?" Superboy asked.

"Yes, it should be safe for you." Superman replied.

Superboy beamed as he watched and waited to see what would happen.

"Kryptonian tech can be a bit overwhelming." Superman said as he reached out to touch the crystal.

"How so?" Superboy asked. His answer soon came as after Superman touched the crystal, it caused a bright light to happen.

Lois flinched a bit as she gave a small glance over as holographic images seemed to come up.

**_"Your identity genome is confirmed, Kal-El,"_ **A man spoke as he stepped out to see Superman as Lois took a look at the sight with Superboy once it was safe enough to do so.**_ "I am the physical embodiment of a personally attuned program designed as a repository for all that is Kryptonian in nature. My sole purpose on this journey is to inform you, assist you and protect you and all Kryptonian life. During-"_**

"Wait a second. Is he..." Lois was about to ask.

"Yes, Miss Lane," Superman told her. "You're looking at the last son of Krypton's nanny. Keep watching."

_'Never knew Dad would have a nanny.'_ Superboy thought to himself.

**_"...As I have also been entrusted with preserving the history of all Kryptonian bloodlines,"_** The man continued on-screen before showing various family members and more from Superman's home planet. **_"We will begin with yours: The House of El."_**

"Wait, is that...?" Lois was about to ask.

"There's your headline, Miss Lane," Superman smiled. "I'd like you and the rest of the world to meet my parents."

"Whoa." Superboy added.

"Of course, you too, Superboy." Superman said.

"I guess that would make them my grandparents," Superboy beamed. "I've never had grandparents before."

* * *

Soon enough, Lois began to write down her story for the Daily Planet.

"So, what do you think?" Superman asked as they left the building.

"I don't know what to say," Lois said as she felt gobsmacked. "It's-"

"Hey, Superman," A woman greeted as she came by with a baby carriage and waved at the Man of Steel. "Looking good. Good to see you too, Superboy."

"You too, ma'am." Superboy greeted back.

"It's gonna be a reminder of just how alien you are," Lois said to Superman softly. "People forget that when you're saving them from falling airplanes."

"True, yeah," Superman replied until he heard a car horn honk. "I have faith that-"

"Have a good one, Superman!" A man called out from his car before he drove off after that.

"Thanks. You do, too," Superman smiled bashfully before looking at Lois. "There's a really smart woman I know who always says daylight is the best disinfectant. Lift back to The Planet?" he then offered.

"And save me from expensing cab fare to Perry White?" Lois replied before she accepted. "You are heroic."

Superman soon carried Lois bridal style as he flew off to the Daily Planet. Superboy watched them go as he changed back to plain old Atticus Fudo for a while. A cat mewed at him as it saw that before it rushed off.

"Guess I don't have to worry that you saw that." Atticus smiled sheepishly at the stray cat.

The cat began purr as it began nuzzle against his leg.

"Aww... Hello, there, Cat..." Atticus said as he gently pet the cat. "I'm sure my friend Cherry might like you. She's always been more of a cat person."

The cat simply looked up as that name seemed to catch its attention.

"I better get going," Atticus said as he walked off. "Um, you could follow me, I guess."

The cat soon followed after Atticus curiously as they walked down the street together.

And as they walked Atticus began to make his way home, but along the way with his super-hearing, he could hear what was going on at the Daily Planet. "What's all this then?" he asked himself.

The cat also looked curious.

"Maybe you should come too..." Atticus pondered.

The cat nodded as it wanted to come and see.

"This is the Daily Planet," Atticus told the cat. "My dad works here."

The cat let out a small mew from that.

"I'm not sure if pets are allowed inside, but I better go make sure everything's okay," Atticus smiled. "I'm sure they are though."

The cat followed Atticus towards the building as the boy followed his super-senses. And where he soon saw a crowd at the entrance and saw why they were there. The cat hid behind Atticus's legs a bit from the large crowd.

"Cherry hates crowds too." Atticus soothed the cat as best as he could.

They soon saw Superman landing with Lois still in his arms. People gathered all around to take pictures of Superman.

"Oh, that's pretty cool." Atticus smiled as he held the cat protectively.

"Uh, thanks for the ride," Lois smiled bashfully at Superman before she came to go to work. "I gotta go." Once she went inside, the people began to go over to Superman, wanting a picture with him.

Superman waved at them as he soon flew away as he had to get going.

"Isn't he cool?" Atticus asked the cat.

The cat yawned a bit from that.

"Hm... I think I know the perfect owner for you." Atticus joked as this cat reminded him of his lifelong friend.

Atticus soon went into the Daily Planet with his cat friend. Lois stepped out of the elevator just as she ran into Clark by accident which made her drop her papers to the floor.

* * *

"You're in a rush." Clark remarked as he helped her.

"Got a big story." Lois replied.

"I don't want to spoil your day, but you're looking at the guy with an exclusive on Intergang." Clark smiled.

"That's nice, come with me." Lois said before giving Clark her papers before walking off with her pen and note pad.

The two soon walked off together as Atticus came to see his adoptive father for at least maybe a little while.

"What's bigger than Intergang?" Clark asked Lois as they walked off together.

"You'll find out." Lois told him, a bit mysteriously.

Atticus and his cat friend seemed to become curious as what she meant as Clark kept following her. They both found themselves following after the two adults as their curiosity got the better of them.

"No, right. You had that interview with your super friend," Clark said to Lois as they came by a door which was to the supply closet. "I know what that means."

After putting her notepad and pen away, Lois faced Clark. "In here." she told him as she opened the supply closet door.

"Dad?" Atticus called as he came down the hallway.

Lois and Clark came to the supply closet together as the door shut behind them.

"Huh?" Atticus blinked as he saw the door open and close.

The cat became curious as to why Clark didn't reply after Atticus called him out before Atticus went to the door to the supply closet.

"Dad?" Atticus asked before his eyes grew wide.

Lois pressed Clark against the wall as they seemed to be kissing passionately on the lips with each other. Atticus soon listened into the supply closet so then he could hear everything that was going on.

"You're always on fire after seeing him," Clark asked Lois. "Should I be jealous?"

"I think it's the tights." Lois replied bashfully.

"I can pick up a pair if that's all it takes." Clark offered.

"Perfect," Lois smirked. "Wear 'em on our trip to the Hamptons this weekend."

Atticus was shocked to hear that as he and Clark were going to see his adoptive Earth grandparents together.

"Uh, about that..." Clark drawled at first.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no," Lois groaned from that. "Do you know how hard it is for me to get away? I gave up that interview with the Secretary of State!"

"I can explain." Clark told her.

"Really? You mean it's not some secret meeting with some secret spies at some secret location?" Lois asked.

"My parents are in town." Clark told her.

"That's right." Atticus smiled to himself.

"Serious? So, you buried the lede?" Lois smirked as she grabbed Clark's shoulder, about to kiss him. "This weekend just got a whole lot more interesting."

"Um, I don't-" Clark started.

"Want me to meet them?" Lois finished for him firmly. "Don't you think it's time?"

Clark frowned in hesitance as that cued her to walk away before he called out to her. "Lois, wait. It's just that-"

"Look, Clark, I'm not gonna waste time worrying if a guy likes me or not," Lois sighed as she was about to open the door. "We're both adults. I know it was my idea to keep things secret at work, but I'm really trying here."

Atticus had a look of exasperation as his own father kept his relationship with Lois a secret and what's more, thought that Diana and Clark would give dating another chance.

"No. No, you're right. You should meet them," Clark told Lois. "It's just that this is uncharted territory for me and there's some things I need to get used to sharing."

Atticus spun out around onto his back against the wall beside the door as he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Clark, it's your parents," Lois smirked playfully before she gave him a small kiss. "What am I gonna find out? That you were a huge dork? I already know that." she then said before she went to go out the door.

"There's one more thing, I haven't exactly told Atticus about... Us." Clark said.

"He'll get used to it," Lois replied as she came out the door. "He'll adapt."

Atticus looked very sick to his stomach right now as he hid away before Lois could see him.

As she left the supply closet, Clark was still in the supply closet as the mirror reflected on him. "It'll be fine," he told himself with a confident smile as he came to go out the door. "Just fine."

Atticus still felt sick to his stomach before he got out of hiding once he saw his father wasn't looking. The first stop was getting the cat to his lifelong friend. "All right... If I were Cherry, where would I be?" he asked himself before he decided to check at the malt shop. "Aha..."

* * *

Cherry sipped a milkshake as she sat there alone while doing some homework. "Hey, Atticus." She then said without looking.

"Hey, Cherry, I have something for you." Atticus said.

Cherry turned around to see her lifelong friend with a cat. The cat mewed as it saw Cherry.

"...Huh, neat..." Cherry remarked. "I've always wanted my own cat."

"And now you have one." Atticus said as he handed the cat over to her.

"What's her name?" Cherry asked as she took the cat.

"I'm not sure if she has one," Atticus shrugged. "Maybe you'd like to name her?"

"Hmm... I'll think about it," Cherry said as she carefully carried the cat in her arms. "Um, thanks, I guess, even though it's not my birthday or anything."

"No prob," Atticus said. "Anyways, I better get home."

"Oh... Um... Okay..." Cherry replied. "But isn't tonight the weekly hint?"

Atticus checked his phone. "Well, I dunno now," he then said. "Thor said he'd call if anything happened."

"Guess we'll have to wait for him to call." Cherry said.

"Yeah." Atticus said before making his way home.

Cherry went back to her homework as she pet the cat occasionally as it sat in her lap.

* * *

Atticus sat in the living room to play some video games before Clark would come back home.

"You look sick." Patch said to Atticus.

"I just learned a secret that my father's been keeping from me." Atticus told him.

"Is it a surprise?" Patch smiled.

"It surprised me..." Atticus rolled his eyes.

Patch saw how his owner wasn't smiling about the surprise and could tell he wasn't happy at all. Atticus sighed sharply as he played, though a bit violently as he felt angry right now. And where his crystal powers showed that he was angry as crystal spikes began to appear around him. Patch let out a startled howl as he backed up from the crystals.


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Jessica fell asleep in the backseat of the car as Drell drove her down the street as they made it back into the Mortal Realm, out of the Supernatural Realm.

"Now he should be easy to spot," Drell said. "Let's just hope that he hasn't had a bad day."

"I hope so too," Jessica yawned as she leaned over a bit to look out to the road after she woke up from her travel nap. "Drell, is my little brother a happy boy?"

"Most of the time, yes." Drell replied.

"Most of the time?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, you know how teenagers can get," Drell replied. "He's usually very happy and upbeat though. You don't have anything to worry about."

"Um, would he have crystal powers due to Sombra making him his heir to the throne?" Jessica asked Drell while looking at a home.

"Do you promise not to freak out?" Drell asked.

Jessica looked at him before sighing. "He does, doesn't he?"

"I'm sorry, Jessica," Drell replied. "Sombra is so insistent with your little brother, even if it meant trying to kill your parents."

"Well, that would explain those crystal spikes." Jessica told him as she pointed to the Kent household.

"Ugh... What's he upset about now?" Drell groaned.

"So, he lives here?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, he was adopted by Clark Kent sometime after he and a good friend of his helped form what they call 'The Justice League'." Drell told her as he stopped the car.

"How are we going to get inside without getting hurt by those crystal spikes?" Jessica asked.

"I better lead you out of here." Drell said as he took out a snow scraper to crunch through the spikes.

Jessica followed after, looking a bit scared of the spikes.

"It's usually hard to break through these, but this is a magical snow scraper from when I visit the North Pole." Drell grumbled as he tore through the spikes to make it to the front door. Once at the front door, Drell knocked on it, not wanting to make things even worse.

Jessica huddled beside the warlock with fear.

"Dad?" Atticus asked before he got the door to see Drell. "Oh, it's you."

"Good to see you too." Drell deadpanned from that response.

"Sorry, I thought Dad would be back home," Atticus said before grumbling. "Even if he kept a secret from me."

"Um... Well... I hope you aren't steamed with me because I brought someone to help you with your, erm... Birth parents..." Drell said as he stepped into the house.

Patch tilted his head curiously. Jessica soon stepped inside next. Atticus looked over with surprise.

"Hello." Jessica greeted.

"You're the girl I saw in some of my dreams lately." Atticus said to Jessica.

"Atticus, this is your big sister: Jessica Fudo." Drell introduced.

"Um... Hello, there..." Jessica waved.

"Uh, hi, Jessica," Atticus gave a small smile. "It's good to see you... Did we ever meet before?" he then asked.

"I'm afraid I was sleeping over at our aunt's house at the time you were ready to be born." Jessica said softly.

"Well, I'm glad that we're meeting for the first time then." Atticus smiled.

This seemed to calm him down causing the crystal spikes to vanish.

"Oh, thank Wicca..." Drell mumbled to himself with a deep sigh of relief as the crystals left.

"I'm glad we get to meet too," Jessica smiled back to Atticus. "You look like such a handsome young man."

"Thanks." Atticus smiled back.

After closing the door, they went to the living room and where Atticus turned off his video game.

"I brought her over to help you solve your family secret," Drell told Atticus. "She'll give it to you when your friends come here."

"All right." Atticus said as he sent a group text to the other to tell them it was time.

* * *

Cherry appeared to be in her bedroom, stepping onto a stool with a rope to tie on her ceiling fan blade and neck-tie the other part around her neck, but soon saw her phone go off as she decided to put the rope away as she decided to go out as her parents were away from home. As usual. And where she soon saw what the text was for.

* * *

"You can meet my friends." Atticus smiled at Jessica.

"I'm glad that you've made friends," Jessica said. "I had a hard time making friends at the school I go to in the Other Realm."

"Being a Wiccan, it can be hard to make friends," Drell said. "I know that for sure."

"I guess Wiccans aren't very common in the Other Realm?" Atticus asked his sister.

"No, it's mostly witches and warlocks," Jessica said before rolling her eyes. "Even though mortals think that they're the same thing."

"Not to mention some wizards," Drell said. "Sometimes I wish I had jurisdiction over them, especially whenever that kid Alex Russo slips up. She's such a troublemaker."

Sometime later, they soon heard the doorbell. Atticus hopped off of the couch to get the door.

"Hey." Cherry said.

"Hey, it's really good to see you," Atticus smiled. "Really good! We all love you! You have so much to live for!"

"..._Do_ I though...?" Cherry mumbled.

"Of course you do." Thor said as he came behind her.

Cherry let out a small grumble as she came inside.

"There's also someone I want you to meet," Atticus smiled. "I have a sister."

"How can _you_ have a sister?" Cherry asked a bit bluntly. "You're an orphan."

* * *

Once they got inside, they soon saw Jessica.

"Hello," Jessica waved at them. "You must be Atticus's friends."

"Yeah?" Thor replied.

"Well, I'm his sister," Jessica smiled. "I'm gonna help you guys out a little about finding our parents in-"

Drell shushed her from behind the others.

"Erm... Far away from here..." Jessica said as she wasn't allowed to say.

"That's good." Thor said.

"Well, Jessica, you have that picture of..." Drell was about to ask before whispering at Jessica.

"Oh... That might be a good idea..." Jessica said as she took out her backpack before she took out a picture of the brown-haired man and blonde woman. "There we go."

Atticus took the picture to add to his puzzle board.

"They sure do look like nice people." Thor smiled.

"Is that Mom and Dad?" Atticus asked Jessica as it was a very old picture.

"...Maybe...?" Jessica said as she wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Well... I think they are," Atticus smiled. "I still can't get over that they knew Merlin the Wizard... I mean, how many people can say that about their parents?"

"You're pretty lucky." Drell said.

"Atticus, shouldn't you be at The Watchtower for training?" Patch asked his owner.

"I'll go there in a little bit." Atticus said a bit flatly.

"With that being said, I leave you to the puzzle until next week," Drell said as he walked out the door. "Just no spikes around my car or there will be trouble, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir." Atticus told him.

"Spikes?" Cherry asked curiously before already getting the idea of what Drell meant. "Atticus, did you get angry again?"

"...It's nothing..." Atticus said as he stared at the floor.

"Tell us," Thor told him. "We're your friends."

Atticus sighed. "Just something stupid with my dad."

"What happened?" Cherry asked.

"I think it has something to do with a secret Atticus found out." Patch said.

"A secret? Your family secret?" Cherry asked as her eyes lit up for Atticus.

"No... Nothing like that..." Atticus grumbled. "I saw Dad with Miss Lane from the Daily Planet."

"Ooh." Cherry winced.

"I can't believe he did that, I just can't believe it." Atticus groaned a bit.

Jessica frowned as she came to the others. "Uh, where's the kitchen in this place?" she then asked.

Thor pointed her in the direction.

"Good," Jessica replied. "I'll make my brother some hot chocolate."

Once in the kitchen, Jessica began to make the hot chocolate.

* * *

"Atticus...?" Cherry called wearily.

"I'm fine," Atticus sighed. "I just can't believe my dad would do this."

"I wonder why he didn't tell you he was secretly dating Miss Lane?" Thor asked Atticus.

"How should I know?" Atticus huffed a bit. "I don't think dads are supposed to lie like this."

"Well, mine certainly doesn't." Thor shrugged.

"I might have to go talk to him." Atticus said firmly, but not fully angry.

After a while, the hot chocolate was ready.

"We should probably go." Cherry said.

"Friends stick together." Thor told her.

"Grrghh..." Cherry rolled her eyes from that.

Jessica soon gave Atticus the cup of hot chocolate.

"Thank you." Atticus softly told his sister as he took the cup and drank from it.

"This is a nice little house," Jessica smiled. "I think I might like it here a lot."

* * *

Sometime later, Atticus soon went to The Watchtower for training in the training room. He was harder at work than usual, though he didn't bring out any more dark crystals, but his work-outs were more intense than his usual self. And where the one he was training against was a hologram version of Bizarro. Atticus growled as he fought his simulation enemy as he decided not to hold back what he could. And where Wonder Woman who had come in the training room for her turn after him, saw his fighting pattern was more violent than usual. Atticus looked like he had fire in his eyes and heart.

"Alright, something's wrong." Wonder Woman said from that.

Atticus soon ended his training as he used his crystal power against the hologram Bizarro.

"Atticus, is there something on your mind?" Wonder Woman asked Atticus.

"Hmph... Probably..." Atticus firmly pouted.

The training simulation was soon turned off. Atticus soon made the crystals vanish just as Superman came in.

"Excuse me, it's my turn." Wonder Woman said to Atticus.

"My pleasure, Ms. Diana." Atticus replied sweetly to her, though with a bit of a glare in Superman's direction.

Wonder Woman seemed to notice this, but didn't say anything.

"Could we talk?" Superman asked Atticus.

"Oh, I would, but I'm too busy with a secret." Atticus slanted his eyes.

"A secret?" Superman repeated.

"Yeah... A secret that I keep under your nose for myself and that other person!" Atticus glared. "Not like you would know about that! ...Right?!"

Superman could tell Atticus was angry about something and it was towards him. Atticus decided to lift his weights as Wonder Woman took her turn in the simulation room.

"Could we talk, Atticus?" Superman asked. "I can tell you're upset about something."

"I'm just fine," Atticus said while lifting weights. "And I'm not holding any secrets especially from you or the family or my own friends and that includes Patch. Keeping a secret from family is like not trusting them and sometimes the trust between a father and a son can be hard to mend once that trust has been broken."

"...I guess you found out about... Something..." Superman said softly.

"I came to meet you at the Daily Planet," Atticus glared. "I saw something I probably shouldn't have."

"I _was_ going to tell you." Superman said softly.

"Were you?" Atticus huffed quietly.

"Please, Atticus, try to understand," Superman told Atticus. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way."

"I'm just surprised you didn't tell me in the first place." Atticus replied before letting the weights hit the ground as he flew off.

"Wait, Atticus, please, let's talk." Superman said.

"I got a lot of homework." Atticus replied as he was soon out of sight as he flew at super-speed.

"I'll... I'll see you at home..." Superman said softly.

Atticus wiped his eyes as he decided to go back home.


	4. Chapter 4

Jessica bonded with Patch at the house as she unpacked her clothes in a spare room that would be her new room.

"It's going to be great to have you here." Patch smiled at Jessica.

"I think so too," Jessica smiled back. "I liked my school alright, but it felt a little hard to fit in as the only Wiccan since everybody else was pretty much a witch or a warlock."

"I never knew they were so much different," Patch replied. "Atticus is a great pet owner too."

"I bet he is," Jessica smiled before seeing Atticus teleporting back in from The Watchtower. "Speaking of which..."

Patch rushed out to go see Atticus.

"Hey, boy," Atticus said to his dog. "It's good to see someone who'd never hide anything from me."

"I'm guessing your training was a bit more violent than usual?" Patch guessed.

"What makes you say that?" Atticus asked.

"You seem to get aggressive with training when you feel upset about something." Patch replied.

"Yeah, I guess during my training I was a tad more violent." Atticus said.

"Well, at least you don't have any missions today." Patch smiled.

"Yeah, that's true," Atticus replied. "I think I'll take a look at some of my homework though."

"If you need help, come look for me," Jessica advised. "I'm smarter than I look."

"Thanks, Jessica." Atticus laughed a little from that.

"Well, my good friend Stephanie Tanner thought the same thing." Jessica smirked slightly.

* * *

Atticus soon began to look over his homework. Patch decided to go in the room to keep him company.

Atticus smiled softly at Patch as he pet him while looking at his homework before his cell phone rang. "Kent residence?" he replied.

**_"Hey, wanna play some Nintendo?"_** Thor smirked on the other line. **_"I got this game that's like wrestling, but with video game characters as the wrestlers."_**

"Sure." Atticus smirked back.

**_"Put on your wrestling pants and come on over."_ **Thor smirked.

"Hmm... Okay..." Atticus said as he glanced at his homework. "Just a second..." he then called out. "Jessica?! Can you check my homework?!"

Jessica took a look at her little brother's homework and smiled. "Very good so far."

"Great." Atticus smiled back.

"You're very smart, huh?" Jessica smiled.

"Probably not enough as a valedictorian, but I like to think so." Atticus smiled back.

"His smarts is as amazing as his strength." Patch added.

Atticus smiled bashfully.

"It's a little late to see friends though, isn't it?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, it'll be fine," Atticus replied. "I do this all the time."

"You do?" Jessica asked.

"Uh, yeah, of course." Atticus smiled.

"Hmm... Well, if you're alright to go and Clark's okay with it, I guess you could go to your friend's house." Jessica allowed.

"Yeah! Go, Atticus!" Patch nodded.

"I'll be back before midnight." Atticus promised his sister.

"I hope you're responsible as you say you are," Jessica replied. "I'm sure I can trust you though."

"Of course you can." Atticus said as he walked off to meet Thor at his home in the Other Realm.

"He really is responsible." Patch smiled.

Atticus waved as he left.

"I guess we could bond now," Jessica said to Patch. "I never found myself a familiar back in Witchright Hall."

"What's a familiar?" Patch asked.

"A magical familiar is a pet who helps a magical being with their magic," Jessica replied. "My friend Gwen had a guinea pig she called Stonehenge, but Stoney for short."

"So you never had a familiar?" Patch asked softly.

"I'm afraid I never found one for myself." Jessica said softly.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find one someday." Patch said.

"You're sweet." Jessica smiled as she pet him a bit.

Patch beamed as he liked the way that felt so far. Clark decided to come home for a moment to hopefully talk to Atticus, but he wasn't there.

"Hello." Jessica greeted Clark.

"Um... Hi..." Clark blinked.

"I'm Jessica," Jessica smiled. "Atticus's older sister from the Other Realm."

Patch nodded in agreement.

"Well, uh, it's nice to meet you," Clark said to her. "I didn't know Atticus had a sister."

"It's a long story," Jessica replied. "He went to a friend's house."

"Yep, at Thor's place." Patch smiled.

"This late?" Clark asked.

"He said he'd be home before midnight." Jessica said.

"Well... Okay..." Clark sighed. "I was hoping we could've talked while I have to run into town somewhere."

"Really? Where to?" Patch asked.

"I was hoping we could talk at the Watchtower," Clark said. "Him, me, and Diana."

"Diana, huh?" Jessica asked.

"Wonder Woman." Clark told her as it seemed to be a good idea to let her know.

"Oh, she sounds so cool," Jessica smiled. "I'd love to meet her."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back soon." Patch said.

"I hope so," Clark said. "No offense, you two, but this is sort of a father/son thing."

"It's okay," Jessica smiled softly. "I get that. I better call our aunt to let her know I'm here."

"Who's your aunt?" Patch asked.

"I doubt you would've heard of her, but her name is Delilah," Jessica replied. "She's a Wiccan too. She more or less took me in after, uh... What happened with Mom, Dad, and Sombra happened. I was with her to sleepover until Atticus would be born, but she sorta took me in after that and pretty much raised me from then on."

"Whoa." Patch said.

* * *

**_Meanwhile with Atticus..._**

Atticus and Thor shared some snacks together as they sat to play the video game that Thor told him about.

"Bowser rules and Mario & Luigi drool." Thor smirked as he beat his controller to beat Atticus.

"Oh, we'll see." Atticus smirked as he used his controller to beat Thor in the game.

"I'm gonna make you wish you were Princess Mario." Thor smirked back.

"Bowser's gonna be a lizard by the time I'm through with ya." Atticus retorted.

"We'll see about that." Thor smirked.

Thor was soon shown as the one that lost after they played for a while.

"Sorry, buddy," Atticus said before he got tackled. "Wah!"

"You cheated!" Thor smirked as he pinned down Atticus. "I'm gonna make you pay! This is the House of Moltenscar, and I am the King!"

"Oh, yes, O Mighty King!" Atticus smirked back.

Thor and Atticus laughed as the house shook a bit from that.

"That boy..." Moxie sighed to herself from the kitchen.

After their fun was done, Atticus looked at the clock and began to make his way home.

"Aww... Do you _have_ to go now?" Thor asked as he lay on the floor on his side. "You could stay here forever. I always wanted a brother."

"Thor, I'm flattered, but I should go back home before it gets too late," Atticus replied. "I'll see you at school, huh?"

"Well... Okay..." Thor said. "Good to see ya."

Atticus soon went back home.

"Hmm..." Thor pouted.

Moxie coaxed to her son as she tried to cheer him up after he looked sad to see his friend go.

* * *

Atticus came back to the house with a small yawn. "Finally home." he said, a bit sleepily.

Patch looked over a bit from the foot of Atticus's bed. Atticus got straight out of his clothes and into his pajamas as he decided to go straight to bed that night.

"How was your time with Thor?" Patch asked.

"Oh, it was a lot of fun," Atticus yawned a bit with a small smile as he laid down in bed. "We had some hot dogs and chips and soda and played this wrestling video game that had like Mario and Sonic as wrestlers. It was so cool."

"That's nice," Patch smiled. "Oh, and Clark was hoping to talk with you at the Watchtower with Diana."

"Huh? Oh..." Atticus replied. "Maybe I should go down there."

"You look so exhausted," Patch said. "Maybe tomorrow."

"It is getting pretty late." Atticus said.

"I'm sure you could talk tomorrow." Patch advised.

"Mm-hmm... G'night, boy." Atticus nodded sleepily.

"Night, Atticus." Patch replied as he curled up to go back to sleep.

The rest of the night seemed to be peaceful until Atticus began to stir in his sleep as his eyes glowed.

* * *

"What the...?" Atticus asked as he woke up somewhere else which looked like a dark void. "Where am I? What's going on?" He began to look around and saw that it was outer space. "Oh, cool, I'm in space..." he said to himself.

_There seemed to be a group of astronauts working together._

"Hmm... That must be a space satellite..." Atticus said to himself.

_And where he was right and he would soon see what was going to happen to it. The female astronaut smiled as she took the wrench and flew out to get to work with her fellow astronauts._

"This is cool." Atticus smiled at first.

_"Dropped something?" The female astronaut teased the man in front of her as she held out the wrench. "As your long-suffering, devoted wife, I'm used to your butterfingers at home but, Hank, you're setting a bad example for the others."_

_"Yeah, Commander, I'm starting to wonder if we got the wrong Henshaw in charge." The other male astronaut added from that._

"They're not wrong." Atticus said.

_It seemed to be a good time so far. _

Atticus laughed a little at the playful banter between the three astronauts as he watched them carefully, but he soon saw that there were some screws loose on the space station. "Uh-oh..." he said to himself as his inner superhero felt alert about that detail. "I gotta do something!"

_The astronauts took a look at the planet Earth before they would get back into their spaceship as it looked like they were waiting for someone. They were also about to call Houston._

"Could this get worse?" Atticus groaned before something bright shot through the sky before he looked to see something big and dangerous coming. "I just had to ask."

_He soon saw his vision showing what was happening next. Superman didn't seem to be showing up yet which felt very suspenseful._

"Where could he be?" Atticus asked himself.

_This looked very bad. Atticus soon began to try and wake himself up._

* * *

Patch soon started to lick Atticus's face.

Atticus groaned before he woke up to see his dog. "Oh... Oh, boy, thank goodness..." he said as he reached out to hug Patch.

"You were tossing and turning a little bit." Patch pouted at him.

"I was having a nightmare, but it didn't start like a nightmare." Atticus said.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Patch asked. "I know I can't make it go away, but my parents always told me, my brothers and sisters, that if you have a bad dream, that it's a good idea to talk about it."

"Well, okay," Atticus said to him. "I was in outer-space... It looked so cool! I mean, I was way out away from Earth with the astronauts."

"That is pretty cool." Patch smiled a bit.

"It really was," Atticus smiled back before frowning. "But then, something came from space. I think it was a giant meteor, and it came crashing out of orbit."

"Whoa." Patch frowned.

"Yeah... They waited for Superman, but he didn't show up." Atticus frowned, though shook chills a bit as he worried from that thought, even if he was a little unhappy with his adoptive father.

"Well, good thing it was just a nightmare." Patch said.

"It felt so real too..." Atticus replied softly.

"Yeah, most of them can feel that way," Patch understood. "I used to have nightmares that Dirty Dawson kidnapped me and Thunderbolt and we couldn't break free."

"What time is it anyway?" Atticus asked.

"9:45." Patch said.

"WHAT?!" Atticus yelped as he ran out of bed. "I'm late for school!"

Just as he was about to run out of his bedroom, he was soon greeted by Clark who got back from the phone.

"Uh... Hey, Dad... I overslept a bit..." Atticus said, a bit rushed as he tried to leave the room. "Do you mind?"

"School is closed for today." Clark told him.

"Wait, what?" Atticus asked.

"School's closed." Clark repeated.

Atticus anime fell from that.

"Maybe we could have a talk now." Clark suggested.

"Sure, right after he gets up and gets ready for the day." Patch said.

"Could you give me about five minutes?" Atticus asked Clark.

"Oh, sure." Clark replied as he shut the door.

"Sure... Now he wants to talk..." Atticus grumbled slightly.

"Well, he did want to talk with you at The Watchtower with Diana." Patch said.

"I'm sure I know what it's about." Clark sighed a bit.

* * *

After getting ready, Atticus came out of the room and joined his dad.

"Okay, Atticus, should we talk?" Clark asked.

"Sure, let me just take care of this," Atticus said as he silenced his phone so that his friends couldn't bother him. "All right, what's up?" he then asked.

"Well, it's about my relationship with Miss Lane," Clark replied. "You remember, my co-worker from the Daily Planet."

"Yeah, I know..." Atticus said with a slight grumble.

Patch could already tell this was already awkward.

"What _about_ her?" Atticus asked.

"Well... We've just been talking lately..." Clark said to him. "How do I say this?"

"That you forgot all about Mom?!" Atticus glared.

"Mom...?" Clark asked.

"Erm... I mean, Miss Diana!" Atticus glared. "That's not the point!"

Patch gulped as he backed away from the conversation.

"Atticus..." Clark tried to say. "Please listen..."

"No, you listen," Atticus complained. "You love Miss Diana and yet you kissed Miss Lane."

Patch couldn't help but agree with how what Atticus said made sense.

"Since school's out, I'm gonna hang out with my friends," Atticus told Clark. "I need some air."

Patch hoped Clark would be understanding.

"Well... All right..." Clark said.

"My birthday was a while ago, but thanks, Grandma and Grandpa." Atticus chuckled to himself as he had some birthday money from Clark's parents from their visit.

Once Atticus left to meet up with his friends, Clark sighed before contacting The Watchtower.

"Yeah, _you_ feel so hurt? Now you know how _I_ feel." Atticus grumbled to himself as he left Clark.

* * *

Clark was soon transported to the Watchtower. Wonder Woman glanced over a bit at him.

"Hi, there." Superman waved at her wearily as he came to join the others.

"Where's Atticus?" Wonder Woman asked.

Superman sighed a bit. "He decided to go spend the day with his friends since they're out of school today." he then said to her.

"I'm guessing it didn't go so well with talking with him." Wonder Woman said.

"I guess he's pretty mad at me." Superman said from that.

"I can't say I blame him for that." Wonder Woman grumbled a bit angrily herself.

Superman sighed to himself as he heard that, thanks to his super-hearing as he knew he dug his own grave.

"This isn't your week, huh?" Batman asked.

"Does Cherry know?" Superman asked him.

"Well, she and Atticus are pretty close like siblings," Batman told him. "...Well, better the two of them than Cherry with Damian that is."

"So that's a yes." Superman sighed.

"I'm sorry, but it seems that you brought this out on yourself." Batman told him a bit coldly.

Superman sighed as he knew Batman was right.

"I'm gonna have my hands full pretty soon myself." Batman said.

"Problems with Damian?" Superman asked.

"Oh, he's a handful himself." Batman replied.

No one argued with him there.

"The others will probably meet later, I'll be there for a little bit." Batman said.

"Will the kids be involved?" Superman asked.

"Perhaps," Batman replied. "That is, if your son still decides to trust you."

Superman hoped that he could gain his son's trust.

* * *

The teenagers met together as Atticus took time away from Clark, though luckily, he wasn't burning angry right now which would bring out his dark crystals.

"So, uh, is there a possibility for me to join the Teen Titans or the Justice League with you guys?" Thor asked after they had ordered some pizza.

The group looked to each other before looking back at him with shrugs. "Maybe?"

"Sweet! That's not a no!" Thor beamed.

"Anyway, what should we do?" Sabrina asked.

"I thought maybe we could just chill out with some movies," Atticus suggested. "Ya know... Be kids and all of that."

"We're teenagers though?" Thor spoke up.

"You know what I mean," Atticus told him. "I just thought we could take it easy until the League calls us up."

"That sounds nice." Sabrina smiled.

"Yeah... Let's hang out..." Atticus said to them.

"Well, all right," Thor smiled. "I do love some good company."

"It's settled then," Atticus said. "We'll order pizza, watch some movies, play some video games... We won't let each other down."

"Yeah, nothing can ruin this moment." Sabrina said.

"Okay, I guess if you're up for it, Atticus, we'll hang out," Cherry said. "Or at least until Bruce calls me away. I'm just glad about that boarding school thing."

"Because of Damian?" Thor asked.

"Yep!" Cherry replied shamelessly. "The more time he spends there, the better for me."

"Couldn't agree more." Atticus said.

Thor laughed a little as he seemed to be in his own little world.

"Focus, why don't you?" Cherry scolded.

"So, are things okay with Clark then?" Thor asked Atticus.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Atticus replied as he tried to keep cool.

"In all honesty?" Sabrina asked.

"Is there something wrong?" Atticus asked his friends with concern.

"Well, uh... I can't speak for the others, but we just hope that you're okay." Cherry spoke up.

"Oh, I'm fine," Atticus replied. "Just need a little distraction from home and school."

"That makes sense." Thor said.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Atticus told him.

Cherry felt unsure, but it looked like Thor and Sabrina were on board with having pizza and just hanging out as friends.

"After all, you're only young once." Atticus smiled.

"I just know that you're trying to hide your pain." Cherry mumbled quietly.

"I'll go order the pizza." Atticus smiled.

The others smiled back as Atticus walked, off, but Cherry's smile disappeared once he was out of sight.

"I'm worried about Atticus." Cherry spoke up to Thor and Sabrina.

"Why?" Thor asked.

"I think he's hiding his pain." Cherry told them.

"What makes you say that?" Sabrina asked.

"Well, Clark just pretty much exposed a huge secret around him," Cherry said. "I'm pretty sure he's angry and upset."

"Oh..." Thor said.

"Are you sure?" Sabrina asked Cherry. "He seemed happy to me."

"Oh, you guys haven't known Atticus as long as I have," Cherry rolled her eyes. "I think I know what I'm talking about."

* * *

After ordering the pizza, they now just had to wait for it to be delivered. BOOM! Someone came out the door from upstairs and he came to creep up behind the four teenagers as they watched a movie and grinned as he tried to grab them to scare them, but...

"Hi, Drell." Jessica greeted.

"Shh!" Drell glared at her sharply. "You ruined my surprise!"

"Like you were gonna scare us anyway." Cherry deadpanned without looking.

"Seriously?" Drell asked Cherry with a groan.

"What do you want?" Cherry asked him.

"I thought I'd come check on you kids, because I sensed some trouble back home." Drell replied.

"Really?" Sabrina asked.

"Yeah... Something seemed... Wrong..." Drell replied.

"Ah, we're fine," Atticus smiled. "We're about to have pizza."

"You sure?" Drell asked.

"Yeah, it's cool." Atticus smiled.

"Hmm..." Drell paused.

Cherry seemed to shake her head from that.

"Well, I was certain that there was trouble." Drell said.

"Uh, sir? Could I talk to you?" Cherry asked.

Drell looked at her and walked off alone with her.

"I'm fine, guys, really." Atticus said as they watched the movie.

Sabrina and Thor could tell that Cherry was right as they could tell Atticus was hiding his pain.

"I thought maybe something was wrong." Drell said.

"I'd hate to tempt fate, but... Does it get any worse?" Cherry asked the adult warlock. "From Atticus maybe never talking to Mr. Kent again?"

"...I shouldn't tell you..." Drell replied with a sharp sigh.

"Drell, please." Cherry begged.

"I'll tell you... But I doubt Atticus will want to hear it or know about it." Drell replied.

"Just at least tell me..." Cherry said to him. "I'll keep it secret, whatever it is."

"Very well..." Drell sighed sharply. "Atticus will become an orphan again... Superman is set to die sometime soon."

"What? But that's impossible." Cherry said.

"Cherry, I'm sorry, but my Oracle told me." Drell told her.

"...You're lying..." Cherry said with her own denial. "Superman will be fine."

Drell simply sighed as he should have known he would get a response like that. Cherry went to walk off.

"Trust me..." Drell said as he held her back a little. "I'm serious. I know it seems impossible, but it'll happen."

"...Then... Maybe they'll make up..." Cherry said. "Clark and Atticus... Maybe Atticus can save him!"

"You better hope so." Drell said.

Cherry gripped her collar a bit nervously.

"I'll be back later..." Drell said as he left.

"...It'll be fine..." Cherry told herself. "Just help Atticus patch things up with Mr. Kent."

They soon heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it!" Atticus said as he zipped by.

Cherry yelped as she nearly lost her balance from that before Drell magicked up a chair for her to sit in as she was about to fall.

Atticus opened the door as he took out some money. "Here you go, my good man." he then said as he handed the pizza delivery man the money.

"Thanks, dude," The delivery man said as he took the money, giving Atticus the pizza. "See ya."

"See ya." Atticus smiled as he took the pizza as he dashed off back to his friends.

"And to eat the pizza." Patch smiled as he came in before the door could close.

"Well, I better go," Drell said. "...That pizza does smell good though."

"You're not gonna leave until you get some pizza, are you?" Cherry asked.

"No, ma'am." Drell replied.

"Of course..." Cherry groaned.

"You want me to help you or not?" Drell asked.

"Ugh... Just get your pizza already!" Cherry complained.

"Sorry, Shorty, favorite uncles first." Drell told Thor as he was able to pick up his teenage nephew to move him out of the way.

"Aren't you his only uncle?" Sabrina asked.

"I'll be yours too soon." Drell smirked at her.

Sabrina gulped a bit from that. Thor pouted as he had to wait for his pizza now.

"This is going to be delicious." Drell said.

"Uh... Yeah... Hope you like it..." Cherry said as she tried to hide her discomfort.

Jessica came to get herself some pizza.

"You ever get a familiar?" Drell asked Jessica.

"Nope," Jessica replied. "You know, Mom and Dad have-"

"Shh!" Drell reminded her.

"What was that about Mom and Dad?" Atticus asked.

"Nothing," Drell said as he hit Atticus with some special magic. "You okay, Atticus?"

"...What was I doing?" Atticus asked.

"You were about to offer me some cheesy breadsticks and I'll happily take some." Drell replied.

"Oh, right." Atticus said as he gave the warlock a couple of cheesy breadsticks.

"Sorry about that, Drell." Jessica whispered to the warlock.

"You got very lucky," Drell whispered back. "Watch yourself next time."

"Yes, sir..." Jessica said bashfully as they sat down to have some pizza.


	5. Chapter 5

After a while, they soon finished the pizza. Drell decided to leave as the group laid around on the floor as they felt very full and tired right now.

"I think I might've overdone it," Sabrina said. "It was good to have some pizza without having a cat around to take most of it."

"Your familiar does that whenever he gets the chance, huh?" Jessica asked.

"Most of the time, yeah," Sabrina replied. "...I guess Salem would be my familiar, huh?"

"Sounds like it to me." Jessica said.

"Nothing could make us move from this spot." Atticus said.

"Then I guess your friends will have to sleepover." Jessica giggled.

"Oh, could they, Jessica?" Atticus asked his big sister.

"Yeah... If you would like that... Why not?" Jessica smiled. "Let's have a nice little boy/girl sleepover."

"Wahoo! Nothing could ruin this moment!" Patch cheered.

"Except for maybe a slight tummy ache." Thor muttered.

"Serves you right for eating eight slices of the second pizza." Atticus teased.

"I wanted to eat it before my uncle would..." Thor groaned.

"Fair enough." Atticus said.

"At least we're not being called away." Cherry said.

* * *

Later on, they all decided to get some sleep together, but their sleep was interrupted.

Cherry checked her phone with squinted eyes to see a text that had the Batman Symbol on it. "...I gotta go..." she then said to the others.

"Duty calls, huh?" Sabrina guessed.

"Yeah... Watchtower meeting..." Cherry said. "Atticus, you gonna show up to this one?"

"...Yeah, I guess I might as well," Atticus replied before looking at Thor. "I'll see if we can let you join the League."

"Sweet!" Thor beamed as he tried to jump, but held his gut. "Ugh... Too soon..."

"Rest is the best way to get better." Sabrina said.

Thor groaned a bit as Atticus and Cherry became Superboy and Lady Gothika as they left for the Watchtower to see everybody else at the Justice League. Once they were there, it was time for the meeting to begin.

* * *

"Glad you could bring him over too." Batman said to Lady Gothika.

"I did what I could," Lady Gothika replied. "We just had a big pizza buffet though."

"Hmm..." Batman gave her a look as they walked over to the table.

Superboy sat next to his father, but didn't look at him and stayed focus on the meeting. It seemed to be a decent meeting so far as they all sat together, though Cyborg had urgent news to share with all of them.

"Okay, next up, the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year," Cyborg alerted. "Utilities are above what the UN cleared for funding, guys."

"I'll handle it," Batman volunteered. "Move on, Cyborg."

"Wonder Woman merchandise did well this year," Wonder Woman said before looking at Batman. "I can step up when the Wayne Foundation falls short."

"You're kidding, right?" Batman replied as he gave her a look.

"Okay, okay. Let's just agree we have this covered." Flash suggested.

"Fair enough," Lady Gothika shrugged. "What else is there, Cyborg?"

"Just the Excalibur incident," Cyborg replied. "Only three bodies recovered."

"I got my guards investigating the impact area," Aquaman said. "S.T.A.R. Labs wanted some rock samples."

"All right. Well, if that's it, we'll meet next Thursday," Cyborg told the others. "Same Bat time, same Bat channel."

"Ha, ha, ha." Lady Gothika sarcastically laughed from that.

"I won't be here." Batman spoke up.

"Why?" Wonder Woman asked him.

"Yeah, if I can be here, you can be here." Flash told Batman.

"Dude, it takes you all of three seconds to get here and back." Green Lantern said to him.

"Two at most, but point taken." Flash replied.

"Is this about my 'baby brother I never wanted'?" Lady Gothika scoffed.

"Yes, I have a meeting with the headmaster at Damian's boarding school." Batman told them all.

"No way. _Batman_ has a parent teacher conference?" Green Lantern asked.

"Yes." Lady Gothika replied.

"Well, he comes to the ones at our school more than your parents," Superboy said to her. "...Erm... Where have _your_ parents been lately anyway?"

"...Work..." Lady Gothika said, though that seemed to be a false answer.

Superboy looked to her, though he didn't question it right now.

"Are you in the PTA too? Tell me you're in the PTA," Flash said to the Dark Knight before he stood up to deepen his voice and do an impression of him. "I'm Batman. We need more chaperones for homecoming. Who has to be convinced to sign up?" He soon began to laugh a little before seeing no one was joining in and soon saw Batman giving him The Bat Glare.

"Ooh... You do _not_ want that..." Lady Gothika advised to Flash to make him shut up.

"I'm just joking. I think that's great," Flash chuckled weakly before he sat down to hide his face behind the paper, away from Batman's death glare. "Is he still glaring at me?" he then asked the others.

Superboy looked over to Batman seeing he was still glaring before nodding to Flash, telling him he was.

"We could've just pushed the meeting back to that evening?" Lady Gothika suggested.

"Ah, can't," Flash replied. "I've got rehearsal dinner that night."

"Is he in a play?" Martian Manhunter asked out of confusion.

"He's getting married," Batman clarified. "Somehow."

"Yep, married the next day," Flash said. "Limos, banquet hall, DJ, the whole shebang. Just to meet the family, you understand."

"Does Iris know?" Superman spoke up.

"She better, she picked the date." Flash shrugged.

"No, I mean, does she know about you?" Superman clarified, referring to his secret identity.

"Are you kidding?" Flash replied. "I told her ages ago."

"Oh, jeez, Supes. You can't drop a bomb like that on a honeymoon." Aquaman advised.

"Aren't you worried?" Superman asked Flash.

"Funny, you think of others around you." Superboy mumbled thickly.

"Superboy..." Superman sighed from that.

"About what?" Flash asked from Superman's question.

"About bringing her into your world?" Superman replied. "The dangers, the sacrifice..."

"Clark, that's what marriage is all about." Flash gave a small smile.

Superman had to admit it Flash was right that was what marriage was all about.

"This calls for a toast." Green Lantern suggested.

Wonder Woman glanced at Superman before she got up and walked towards the others who had surrounded Flash.

"We've got some beer in the fridge," Green Lantern then added before looking at her. "I know. Milk for you and the kids."

Everyone began to leave the meeting room with just Superman in his chair with his thoughts and Superboy in his chair while not looking at his adoptive father. Lady Gothika glanced over before she joined the others.

"We'll look into this, uh, new recruit you suggested..." Batman said to her as they left.

"Good enough for me." Lady Gothika replied.

"...Can we talk?" Superman asked Superboy. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"When I found out your secret, I just felt mortified," Superboy said. "Especially since you love Diana and yet you decided to date Miss Lane."

"It may be a little complicated right now, but it'll get better." Superman gave a small smile.

"How?" Superboy asked as crystal spikes started to come out. "How will they get better, Dad?! How?!"

"J-Just relax! It'll be okay!" Superman told him. "You better not behave this way at dinner with your grandparents."

"At least _they_ wouldn't let me down." Superboy sharply grumbled.

Superman tightened his hands a bit after hearing his adoptive son say that.

"I'm gonna go back home." Superboy said as he decided to get up.

Superman looked down as he felt like his whole world was falling apart.

* * *

Atticus walked to Thor's house with his friend so he could visit the Other Realm's gym.

"Uncle Drell's got punching bags, wrestling dummies, barbells, unicycles..." Thor listed.

"I'm gonna need a punching bag," Atticus told him. "I'm not sure if I'm gonna go to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Kent."

"What? But aren't you going to meet them?" Thor asked.

"I just can't be in the same room with Dad," Atticus said as he started to get angry. "I mean, seriously he calls himself a hero and yet when he's as his civilian self, he's a two-timer. Which is someone who is in love with someone, but is dating or secretly dating someone else."

"Take it easy, buddy," Thor said nervously. "You're gonna cause a stir with that anger."

"I'm sorry, Thor, but I can't even look at my dad the same way anymore," Atticus glared a bit. "How would you feel if your dad was with someone who wasn't your mom. Wouldn't you be mad too?"

"...Well, yeah..." Thor had to admit.

"Exactly!" Atticus replied. "Miss Diana might not be my mother, but she's felt like it ever since she and Dad started dating, and now he's shattered her trust by going up with Miss Lane!"

"Well, even if you are angry with your adoptive dad, don't you want to meet your adoptive grandparents?" Thor asked.

"...Well, maybe a little bit..." Atticus shrugged softly.

"I think you should at least go see them..." Thor replied. "Angry or not..."

"I guess you could be right," Atticus said. "...Mind if I still visit your gym?"

"...Maybe if Uncle's not too angry," Thor grinned nervously. "Trust me, you do NOT want to be in the same room with him if he gets angry."

"Alright." Atticus said.

Thor brought Atticus to the door and peeked his head in through the doo as they came to Limbo together where Skippy seemed to be with several monster women as they all found him cute. "...Is this a bad time?" he then asked his uncle's oldest friend.

Skippy shrugged with a small smile as he seemed to enjoy himself.

"I'm guessing not." Atticus said.

Skippy gestured to behind the giant Limbo stick which led to Drell's gym which he usually spent his time outside of work before bed and dinner with Hilda.

"Yeah, we wanna check out the gym a little," Thor said. "...Well, Atticus does. Is Uncle Drell there?"

Skippy shook his head before blowing kisses and loosening his tie.

"Ohh... Right... Game Night..." Thor replied. "Okay, Atticus, just go through the Limbo stick and you'll be at the gym."

"Seems easy enough." Atticus said.

Thor walked off as Atticus came to the gym to take out some frustration.

* * *

Atticus grunted as he yelled out a bit as he punched the punching bag with a lot of fury with the gloves that were there and there seemed to be new bags that appeared from magic every time he punched one off its chain and where the punching bags were soon seen piling up as Atticus had a lot of frustration from his adoptive father. Skippy poked his head in a bit with a chef's hat.

"Hey, sir," Atticus panted. "Uh... I don't have to pay for these, do I?"

Skippy shook his head from that with a small smile to show that he wasn't mad.

"Whew... That's good." Atticus said before punching another punching bag.

Skippy offered a water bottle to Atticus.

"Thanks," Atticus smiled before punching the punching bag right at Skippy which made the poor man fall to the floor with the bag on top of him. "Whoops! Sorry!"

Skippy held out his hand shakily before giving a thumb's up.

"Whew." Atticus sighed before helping Skippy up.

Skippy straightened himself out a bit before pointing his watch.

"I'll assume that means I should go... Well... Uh... Thanks, Skippy..." Atticus said. "I feel a little bit better now."

Atticus soon left the Other Realm Gym and went back home, knowing he would go with his adoptive father and Lois to meet his new grandparents. Clark got himself ready in his room. Atticus sighed as he got himself ready as he tried to stay mentally strong.

* * *

Patch was seen waiting for his owner and his owner's adoptive father. Atticus and Clark soon came out to see the Dalmatian. Patch beamed as he came towards Atticus with a small smile.

"Hey, boy," Atticus smiled back softly. "It's always good to see you."

"So are we going?" Patch smiled.

"Yeah, we'll go," Atticus said. "I'm sure you won't disturb us."

"Oh, I won't be a bother," Patch replied. "I heard that grandparents give you lots of presents and money for your birthday."

They soon started to make their way to where Clark's parents were staying.

Jonathan and Martha beamed as they hugged Atticus right away as he came to them.

"I love you, Grandma and Grandpa Kent," Atticus smiled. "It's okay if I call you that, right?"

"Of course you can, dear," Martha smiled back. "It's very nice to meet you."

Patch began to bark with a smile as he stood next to his master/owner.

"This is my dog, Patch," Atticus smiled. "He can be apart of the family too, right?"

"Oh, of course he can," Martha smiled back as she reached out to pet Patch. "Aw... What a cute dog you are."

"Handsome too, he looks so smart." Jonathan added as he pet Patch too.

Patch smiled as he already liked Atticus's adoptive grandparents.

"I'll get my date while you hang out." Clark suggested.

Atticus grumbled a bit from that.

"Be good." Clark told Atticus as he walked off to get Lois after dropping Atticus and Patch off.

Atticus would do just that, even if he was angry with his adoptive father. Jonathan and Martha sat with Atticus as they showed him an old photo album.

"This looks so cool," Atticus smiled. "Did Clark-... I mean Dad read a lot in school?"

"Probably not as much as you, but he was a reader for sure." Martha smiled back.

Atticus soon became curious when he came upon a photo of Clark as a teenager with a teenage girl.

"Aw, he grew up so fast." Martha beamed.

"Uh, who's this?" Atticus asked as he pointed at the teenage girl. "I don't think I've seen her before."

"Oh, that's Lana Lang; she used to come over once and a while, but Pete Ross, he came over every day." Martha smiled.

"Was Pete Ross a friend of Dad's?" Atticus asked.

"Oh, those two were the best of friends," Jonathon smiled from that. "They were almost like brothers."

"I have some friends like that too." Atticus smiled back.

Patch nodded with a bark.

"Your dog seems so smart," Martha smiled from that. "I'd like to make him some dinner too."

"Oh, that would probably be nice for him." Atticus said hopefully, though some foods weren't safe for dogs.

Patch smiled as food was like a gift from the gods to dogs.

"Well, maybe he could have a little bit." Martha said.

"Here you go, son; have a little gift." Jonathan told Atticus as he gave him something.

"Thank you," Atticus said as he took the gift before opening up to see what it was. "Oh, a book." he then said, though unlike most kids his age, he actually loved books, so he was actually happy and not grossly disappointed.

"You mean it?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, I love books." Atticus smiled.

Patch nodded as he knew how much his master loved books just as much as he loved to keep up his strength.

"I hope you like it," Jonathan smiled. "It's called Old Yeller."

"I've heard of this." Atticus replied.

"I just hope the ending isn't too sad for ya." Jonathan advised.

"I've read lots of stories; some with happy endings, some with scary endings, and some with sad endings." Atticus assured him.

"There ya go, kiddo," Jonathan smiled. "Enjoy the story."

"I'm sure I will, Grandpa Kent," Atticus smiled back. "Look, Patch, there's a dog on the cover."

Patch barked with a smile back from that.

* * *

Eventually, Clark came back with Lois so they could all get ready to eat together and where while they were getting ready to eat, Johnathan began to bring up stories about Clark. Atticus had a bit of a death stare as he crossed his arms towards Lois and Clark.

"So, next thing I know, he's climbed on top of that bull," Jonathan smiled at Lois. "It couldn't throw off my little Clark though. The kid was a daredevil."

"This Clark? The same guy who irons his socks?" Lois asked him.

"Dad, come on! TMI." Clark groaned as he sounded embarrassed.

Jonathan looked confused by the acronym that his adoptive son used, so he asked, "What's that mean?"

"Too much information, Jonathan," Martha told her husband. "I'm sure Lois and even Atticus have heard half these stories before."

"Not really," Lois said before looking over to Clark. "Not at all."

"Same here." Atticus said as he looked over to his adoptive father.

"That's because if my folks have taught me one thing, it's not to talk about myself." Clark replied.

"That's a parent's job." Jonathan added with a small smirk.

"Mission accomplished," Lois remarked. "Sounds like there's a lot I don't know."

'You don't know the half of it.' Atticus thought to himself.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first young lady to break his heart." Martha giggled a bit.

"TMI, Ma!" Clark complained.

"Oh, now, we're getting to the good stuff." Lois smirked from that.

Atticus had a feeling his adoptive grandparents would bring up his adoptive father's ex-girlfriends.

"Well, first there was Lana, lovely girl, lived next door," Martha smiled. "She'd come over once in a while, not like Pete Ross. I mean, he was there every day."

"I always wondered about that boy." Jonathan remarked.

"I've heard of those two." Atticus smirked.

"You have?" Clark asked him.

"Of course, Dad," Atticus kept his smirk. "Families don't keep secrets from each other."

"We told him about Lana and Pete." Martha said.

"Of course," Atticus replied. "Go on, Grandma and Grandpa Kent. Who else was there?" he then asked.

"Well, then there was the girl on the swim team," Martha replied. "Laurel, Laura... Um..."

"Lori. Lori Lemaris," Jonathan smiled at his wife. "I remember her. She was quite a catch."

Atticus could tell his adoptive father was feeling even more embarrassed.

"Pa!" Clark groaned a bit from where he sat.

"Clark's right. Maybe we shouldn't talk about her," Martha suggested. "I am serving halibut."

"You're grounded." Clark told Atticus.

"What for?" Atticus asked.

"Embarrassing me at the table." Clark replied.

"...That is petty and childish and you know it." Atticus retorted.

"You better not be rebelling against me again." Clark said firmly.

"How am I rebelling against you?" Atticus asked.

Patch simply covered his face with his paws as he knew this wasn't going well.

"You're getting really cocky lately," Clark said. "What's up with you?"

"Yeah, well, you punched me in the gut by seeing Miss Lane, no offense, ma'am, behind mine and Diana's back!" Atticus glared at Clark.

Patch his eyes covered before noticing a crystal spike slowly coming up out of the floor from between his paws.

"Atticus..." Clark called sharply.

"No, I'm tired of being lied to!" Atticus glared.

"Atticus, relax, dear..." Martha told her adoptive grandson.

Atticus was about to react before looking down and saw the crystal spike before calming himself down before it would get worse. Patch looked over a bit before breathing in relief.

"I don't wanna have to take dessert away." Martha told Atticus.

"I'm very sorry I lost my temper, Grandma Kent." Atticus replied politely.

Patch knew his master would do his best to keep his temper in check while seeing his adoptive grandparents. They soon all had some dinner which was pretty good, even if Atticus felt funny about eating fish.

* * *

After the visit with Clark's parents, Atticus, Clark, Patch, and Lois were seen outside as Clark tried to call for a taxi for Lois.

"You're a very good boy." Martha smiled as she hugged Atticus.

"It was really great to see you." Jonathan added as he ruffled up the boy's hair.

"Yeah, same here," Atticus smiled back. "See you guys again soon."

"Come on. Taxi! Here it comes," Clark called out as he waved his arms before the taxi cab drove right past him. "And there it goes," he then sighed before he looked over to see the woman he liked, looking a little sullen. "You okay?" he then asked.

"You couldn't wait to get me out of there, could you?" Lois sulked.

"That's not true; I just didn't you to get bored by all those stories." Clark said.

"Bored? Clark, this is the first time I think I've ever learned anything about you," Lois replied. "To be honest, it drove home how much distance you keep between us."

"Lois, you know me better than anyone." Clark told her.

"Then that's a real shame." Lois pouted.

"Nothing is more important to me than you," Clark said as he took her arms. "I just have trouble showing it."

Atticus let out a gasp from that reveal as he felt his face pale.

"More important than your son?" Lois asked.

Clark flinched a bit from that.

"There's something else going on and sometimes I feel like it scares you that I might get to the truth." Lois said to him.

Clark looked at her before he glanced over at the road and called out, "Taxi!"

A taxi cab soon drove by and came to a stop which made Clark smile and he got the door for Lois.

"On second thought, I think I'm gonna walk," Lois said before leaving. "It was nice seeing you again, Atticus and it was nice meeting your dog, Patch too."

"It was good to see you too, Miss Lane." Atticus said politely, but didn't really sound nice.

Patch just stood beside Atticus's leg as the woman left down the street. Clark sighed as this just wasn't his night. Atticus just glanced over to Clark as he turned away to snub him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jessica seemed to visit the ocean as she looked into it to clear her head after a long day getting settled into her new life, though she looked over as she saw Aquaman was hard at work and where she saw something was going on behind him. She took a look around before she decided to go in for a swim. Once she was under the water, the bottom of her waist glowed which brought out a tail-fin like for Atticus before she swam over curiously to see what Aquaman was up to and where she soon saw what he was up to. A body was wrapped up with seaweed as Aquaman watched that.

"Aquaman..." Jessica whispered to herself as she saw the man. "It's really him..."

Aquaman turned to see her.

"Um, hello." Jessica waved.

"...Hmm... You seem familiar somehow..." Aquaman said to the brown-haired girl.

"My name is Jessica Fudo." Jessica told him.

"Jessica... Jessica..." Aquaman paused thoughtfully. "Do you know Atticus?"

"I'm his sister," Jessica replied. "It's a long story."

"So that would make you the niece of Queen Athena." Aquaman said from that.

"That's right." Jessica nodded.

"I didn't think I'd see you." Aquaman said to her.

"You've met my brother, yes?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, I have," Aquaman replied. "That was when he found out about his destiny for Atlantis with Queen Athena, though you weren't there."

"No, I had school," Jessica shook her head. "I was living with our aunt back then because they thought it would be better for me, even though I stayed with her while my baby brother was about to be born."

They soon saw a shark above them and where it soon swam off.

"Excuse me a moment." Aquaman said as he swam after the shark.

"Hang on a second, I wanna see this too." Jessica replied as she followed him.

They swam together after the shark before they saw footprints in the sand before they came up to the surface together to find more footprints.

"I don't think I saw those before." Jessica said about the footprints.

Aquaman and Jessica continued to follow the footprints and where it led them to a tropical forest.

"I think I'm at the spot where the killer emerged," Aquaman said through his earpiece. "I don't see any sign of him. I need to get back to the others."

**_"I've got the coordinates. I'll let everyone know,"_ **Cyborg's voice replied. **_"Sorry for your loss, man."_**

"I'm also bringing someone with me." Aquaman then said as he looked at Jessica.

Jessica already knew who he was talking about.

* * *

**_Meanwhile..._**

Atticus read his book with Patch as Jonathan fell asleep in his chair before Martha decided to join Clark out to the balcony as he looked out to the city and while reading his book, Atticus could hear what they were saying.

"I'm sorry; I guess we talked too much, didn't we?" Martha guessed to Clark.

"You were fine, Ma." Clark sighed from that.

"We're getting old," Martha said softly. "The secrets, uh... They don't seem as important as they used to."

Atticus seemed to tighten his grip a little after hearing the word "secret".

"I served a purpose and I still do." Clark said.

Patch tried to help Atticus keep calm.

"She's a nice girl, Clark," Martha advised. "You deserve someone special."

"The problem is, the more special they are, the more you want to protect them." Clark frowned softly.

"I know, but you should have choices like anyone else," Martha coaxed. "We raised you so that you could be yourself. We didn't raise you to be alone, honey."

"I've never been alone, not ever since the day you and Pa took me in." Clark smiled softly to his Earth mother before hugging her.

Atticus kept a close eye on Clark as he had a lot on his mind with his adoptive father right now.

"Maybe it'll get better later." Patch whispered to Atticus.

"Maybe." Atticus whispered back as he turned to the next page in his book.

Martha came to see Atticus.

"Great book so far." Atticus gave a small smile.

"I'm glad you like it," Martha smiled back. "How about some cookies to go with it?"

"Yes ma'am." Atticus smiled back.

Patch smiled, happy that his master was keeping calm even after hearing the word "secret". Martha decided to get some cookies for Atticus. Clark came by then.

"Hmm..." Atticus glanced away from him as he looked back at his book with Patch.

Clark sighed as he knew they would have to talk at home.

* * *

After Martha made some fresh baked cookies, she allowed Atticus to take some in a container just for him.

"Mm~" Atticus beamed. "They look and smell so good."

"They're made with love." Martha smiled.

Atticus smiled back as he ate one of the cookies.

"Get home safe." Martha smiled.

"I'm sure we will." Atticus beamed happily as he enjoyed the cookie as he went to go home with Clark and Patch.

'Lucky.' Patch thought to himself.

"Atticus, let's just talk, okay?" Clark asked.

"I have a lot of homework." Atticus said, coming up to his room.

"No, let's sit down and talk a little while." Clark said, a bit firmly.

Atticus sighed as he should have known that his father would want to talk right away once they were home.

"Let's just have a little chat," Clark told him. "Have a seat."

"Fine..." Atticus grumbled as he put his stuff away in his room before he would go sit with Clark to talk. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"It's about me and Lois, it seems to really upset you." Clark replied.

"It's just that you and Diana truly love each other and where I thought neither of you would stray away from that love." Atticus said.

"Things are going different between me and Diana right now," Clark replied softly. "You'll understand someday."

"And exactly when will that be?" Atticus asked.

"When you're older," Clark told him. "You'll be a young adult very soon."

"Hmm..." Atticus pouted.

"Diana and I just needed to take a break," Clark told him. "I promise though, it's not your fault."

"How long is this break going to last?" Atticus asked.

"Well... I'm not sure... But I just hope that you understand." Clark replied.

Patch hoped his master would understand. Atticus just sighed.

"It'll be okay, I'll make it up to you very soon." Clark smiled warmly.

"Why not now?" Atticus grumbled.

Patch covered his eyes as he knew what was going to come next.

"Atticus..." Clark tried to calm him down.

"NO!" Atticus cried out as he ran to his room and locked the door behind him. "I never wanna see you again!"

Patch sighed as he knew his master wasn't in a good mood. Clark sighed himself as he decided to let Atticus stay in his room as there was no use to talking to him right now. The next day at school and work was going to be a rough one.


	6. Chapter 6

A breakfast tray for Atticus at his door since he refused to be in the same room as Clark due to his anger. Patch frowned as he hoped this wouldn't last long. Atticus took the tray and soon ate it as he shared a bit with Patch.

"Bacon's always good." Patch smiled softly.

"Yeah, it can be." Atticus replied.

"So after breakfast, you're on your way to school, right?" Patch asked.

"Yeah," Atticus replied. "Dad will be at work then."

"I hope you two make up soon," Patch said. "Atticus, I know Clark's not your birth father, but he's the closest thing you have to a father right now. It would be best to make up with him. I'd make up with my dad if I had a chance to."

Atticus sighed as part of him knew that Patch was right.

"I'll make up with him after school." He said.

"That sounds good enough." Patch replied.

Atticus cracked a small smile as he went back to his breakfast.

* * *

Eventually, Atticus got to school with his friends as the teacher seemed to be late which caused the class to act up, except for maybe Cherry, Atticus, or Thor, mostly because Thor fell asleep on his desk.

"I wonder where he could be?" Atticus said.

Sabrina rushed in with a panic as she leaned against the door.

"...Hey, Sabrina," Cherry said. "You look more freaked out than usual."

"Mr. Kraft is coming!" Sabrina warned them. "He came by my house to have breakfast because he likes my Aunt Zelda, so he might become our substitute for the day!"

"What?!" The students panicked.

"Huh? What?" Thor snorted.

"Kraft is coming!" Sabrina told him.

Thor soon panicked with the other students. Mr. Kraft left his office as he came to go to the classroom that was in need of a teacher before he tripped and fell onto the floor which knocked his glasses off of his face.

* * *

Drell seemed to come by as he took the glasses off the floor with a smirk before he seemed to switch them with other glasses. "Oops... You dropped these..." he then said to the mortal man.

"Thank you." Mr. Kraft said as he accepted the glasses.

Drell snickered to himself.

"Um... Where did Mr. Pool's science class go?" Mr. Kraft asked.

"You didn't hear?" Drell asked. "They went outside by the dumpster."

"Oh, uh, thank you..." Mr. Kraft said as he came to go outside, but the door shut behind him as it locked him out, though he saw the class there like what Drell said had been true.

"Mortals..." Drell snickered to himself as he walked off to the class.

* * *

"_Why_ did it have to be Mr. Kraft?" Atticus groaned.

"I swear, all he does is want to make us all miserable," Sabrina replied. "My aunts sure know how to pick their men, especially that Drell creep."

Drell soon came through the door.

"Uh, Sabrina...?" Cherry said nervously.

"Where does that guy get off anyway?" Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Thor, I know he's your uncle, but he always looks like he's just gonna stand there and yell at us like some big bully!"

"Sabrina?" Atticus spoke up.

"He really creeps me out," Sabrina continued. "I don't know why we even trust him!"

"Sabrina!" Cherry and Atticus cried out.

"What?!" Sabrina asked.

"Hi, Uncle Drell!" Thor smiled plainly.

Sabrina soon went wide-eyed as she now knew what Cherry and Atticus were trying to tell her. Drell stood there with a raised eyebrow and small smirk.

"Hello there, Uncle-to-Be!" Sabrina grinned bashfully before she zipped to her desk. "It's so good to see you in our school!"

"Where's Mr. Kraft?" A student asked as he raised his hand.

"I'm afraid he had to step out," Drell replied. "So I'll be your temporary teacher. Everybody take out a book to read right now."

"Best temporary teacher already." Thor smiled.

"That's, Shortstuff," Drell smirked. "You kids better be nice to Thor here 'cuz he's my nephew."

Thor beamed from that.

Everybody took out their books before Cherry approached the teacher's desk. "Okay, why are you _really_ here?" she whispered to him.

"I was hoping I could talk to you and Atticus about Superman." Drell whispered back to her.

"Are you sure? He might still not be in a good mood to talk about him," Cherry whispered back before seeing Drell looking behind her. "...He's behind me, isn't he?"

"Uh... Yeah..." Drell replied.

Cherry grinned sheepishly as she turned to Atticus while sweating profusely. "Buddy... Pal... Amigo..." She babbled out sheepishly.

"What about him?" Atticus asked.

"You're running out of time," Drell replied. "Don't you think it's time you made up?"

"You talked with him, didn't you?" Atticus narrowed his eyes.

"What?! No!" Drell replied. "Look, Atticus, something very dangerous is about to happen to your father."

"Whatever it is, he can handle it." Atticus said.

"Atticus..." Drell said.

"He'll be fine..." Atticus replied as he went back to his desk.

Cherry went after only to get her arm grabbed.

"He won't listen to me, Cherry." Drell said.

"He's in a lot of pain." Cherry replied.

"But you don't understand, Superman really is going to be in great danger." Drell said.

"What do you want me to do about it?!" Cherry whispered loudly.

"Talk to him, he'll listen to you." Drell told her.

"I doubt it." Cherry groaned.

"Try." Drell said.

"But-" Cherry said.

"No talking to the teacher, please sit down." Drell said as he let go of her and shoved her aside.

Cherry yelped as she hit the floor before she grumbled and came back to her desk.

"Can this day have one good surprise, please?" Drell begged to the heavens above.

The students read their books for a while until the bell rang.

* * *

"Um... Atticus... I think you should keep an eye on your, erm... Superdad." Cherry suggested.

"I don't know why, but alright." Atticus said.

"Uh, yeah, something might happen!" Cherry replied. "You might never see him again!"

"Aw, Cherry, I just said that because I was mad," Atticus said as they left class. "I'm sure he'll be just fine."

"Wait, you _actually_ said you never wanted to see him again?" Cherry asked.

"I was mad, Cherry," Atticus defended. "Haven't you ever told your parents that when they made you mad?"

"...My parents never listen to me." Cherry mumbled from that.

Their communication devices as members of the Justice League soon went off.

"I gotta go." They both said before looking to each other.

"This must be very important." Cherry realized as they were both called.

"Yeah, but how do we ditch school?" Atticus replied.

Mr. Kraft rushed over with a pant as all of the other students were in the hallway. "Sorry, kids, I got locked out of my office somehow, but school is out early today," he told them all. "Teacher Conference."

"Huh, what a lucky break." Cherry said.

"All right, I'll meet you there." Atticus told her.

"Copy that." Cherry replied.

The two then ran off with the rushing crowd of students who happily ran out of the school as they had an early dismissal as Drell hid a chuckle to himself as he changed the school schedule for the kids.

"I love magic." Drell smirked to himself.

Superboy took a hold of Lady Gothika before they flew off together towards the Justice League building.

"I wanna be in the League." Thor pouted to his uncle.

"...I'll make a few calls." Drell replied.

"Thanks, Uncle." Thor smiled.

"Sure thing, Slugger." Drell smirked as he ruffled up his hair.

* * *

Superboy soon landed with Lady Gothika as they got to the door.

"This better be good," Lady Gothika said. "Not that school or home are much better for me though."

"It must be important." Superboy said.

"It better be..." Lady Gothika said before mumbling. "Not that my parents know that I'm gone."

Superboy frowned as he overheard that before they went in through the door to see what the older heroes wanted. Lady Gothika stared at the floor before Superboy made her look at him, so he made some goofy faces to help get a laugh out of her and where it seemed to work a little.

"I'm sorry your parents aren't really there for you ever since they started fighting about that old friend of your mother's," Superboy said softly. "You want me to talk to them?"

"It's okay," Lady Gothika told him. "I feel more at home whenever I visit Bruce at the mansion. He said if he ever had a daughter, he'd want her to be just like me."

"So he's like a second father to you." Superboy smiled.

"Yeah... I suppose." Lady Gothika replied.

* * *

They soon came in through the doors to see the older heroes in the meeting room.

"Okay, whatever it was, we didn't do it," Lady Gothika said. "I'd lose interest quickly and Superboy's way too gutsy to steal or do anything wrong."

"No one stole anything." Wonder Woman told her.

"I told you," Lady Gothika said. "You didn't have to worry."

Superboy playfully rolled his eyes before he sat down with her.

"Okay, what's this all about then?" Lady Gothika soon asked.

Wonder Woman soon showed a spot in the city on the screen of where a something or someone was sighted causing damage.

"...What is... That...?" Lady Gothika asked, a bit unnerved by the sight.

"It's some sort of creature," Wonder Woman replied. "Aquaman might've spotted it last night, along with a new associate."

"New associate?" Superboy asked.

Jessica stepped out to see them.

"Jessica?!" The two gasped.

"I mean, uh, who are you?" Superboy asked Jessica. "Have we met?"

"Give it a rest, I know all about you," Jessica smirked. "You should know better by now."

"Dang it, I guess I should." Atticus smiled.

"Surprise..." Cherry said as she lowered her mask/hood. "What gave it away?"

"I met with Aquaman last night," Jessica replied. "I took a walk to clear my head before I found the ocean and went to go for a swim."

"So where's the creature heading?" Superboy asked.

"Around your and Superman's zone." Wonder Woman told him as she looked at the grid.

"It must have been sent from Apokalips to get revenge for Darkseid's death." Lady Gothika said as she put her hood/mask back on.

"I think we're okay for now," Wonder Woman told the kids. "Flash and a few others are already headed out."

"I think it's what I saw with Aquaman last night." Jessica added.

"Should we go and join them?" Superboy asked.

"That should be best," Wonder Woman said. "I'll get Superman too."

"Hmm..." Superboy firmly hummed from that.

"Superboy, he's your father." Wonder Woman reminded him.

"I know." Superboy sighed.

"So I'm going to call him." Wonder Woman said.

"Well... Good luck with that..." Superboy then said. "I think he planned a special lunch with Miss Lane at work today."

"We'll get going." Lady Gothika said.

"Great," Wonder Woman replied. "Just be very careful. This could be very dangerous."

"We'll be as careful as possible." Superboy promised.

"...Also, are you gonna work here?" Lady Gothika asked Jessica.

"Maybe," Jessica smiled bashfully. "I'm very thrilled to be beside Wonder Woman."

"Sounds like you're a fan of hers." Superboy smirked playfully to Jessica.

Jessica smiled bashfully.

"You a Wonder Girl, Jessica?" Lady Gothika also smirked.

"Don't you two have a job to do?" Jessica asked bashfully.

The two young heroes chuckled from that before they left as Wonder Woman contacted Superman next.

* * *

And where he would answer it after finding a good spot to talk without anyone seeing him talking on his Justice League communication device. "I got the alert," he soon said once he was free to talk. "What's up?"

**_"Just wanted you to know there's action in your zone."_** Wonder Woman told him.

"Where?" Clark asked.

**_"I think we're okay for now,"_** Wonder Woman replied. **_"Flash and a few others are already headed out. The kids left too. Initial reports are some kind of creature. Arthur spotted something off-shore, might be related."_**

"I got a lunch with Lois, but I'll cancel." Clark told her.

**_"We're good with who we have,"_ **Wonder Woman said before she hid a smirk. **_"This lunch wouldn't have anything to do with what we were discussing the other day?"_**

"Call if the League needs me." Clark dismissed that.

**_"Is that a way of telling me to 'mind my own business'?"_** Wonder Woman smirked.

"Yep." Clark smirked back a bit.


	7. Chapter 7

Meanwhile, police cars were rushing down the roads as a group of mutated creatures came to attack the innocent people. Cars and trucks were flipped and tossed all around as the city was under attack. Police cars were heard heading into town. People began to scream as they ran from the mutated creatures. One creature grabbed a hold of a car and threw it towards the police as it hit one of their squad cars.

This made two crash into each other as the other two drove over to stop the creatures. Two officers left their car as they shot bullets at the creature in front of them, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect. And where soon the creatures started to make their way to the police, unfortunately, the bullets were hitting a gas tank. The gas tank then made a huge explosion which blew over the creature and the police officers. The two officers fell to the ground as it looked like the creature was engulfed by the flames.

"It killed him?" One of the officers muttered before looking happy at first. "It killed him!"

Unfortunately, the flames didn't as the creatures were shown to still be alive. The officer cried out as the creature ran towards him to beat him to death.

"Oh, my God! Goodness!" A girl cried out as she was shown to be filming this monster with her phone. "If anyone's watching this, send help. This monster's killing everyone!"

The creature soon seemed to hear her before it came to go after her next.

"Oh, no!" The girl gasped from that. "No!"

Luckily for her, Hawkman suddenly flew by to whack away the creature which sent it flying far away from her. Once he was above the creature, Hawkman whacked the creature back down to the ground. The creature soon slid through the ground before crashing into a building.

"It's okay, kid," Green Lantern soothed the girl. "We're here now."

"Flash." Batman called.

Flash zipped by to help out.

"Civilians!" Batman told him.

Flash then took off to do his part. Hawkman soon flew down to see if he had taken out the creature for good. The creature broke out from the debris and grabbed a hold of Hawkman to pummel him. Hawkman growled a bit before he was punched away into the air. He was about to fly out further and further until Green Lantern caught him with a catcher's mitt like in a baseball game and brought him out a bit to the alley to check on him, luckily, the worst case scenario wasn't the case.

"Hawk's still alive." Green Lantern reported with his communicator.

"Lantern, we need a perimeter." Batman told him through the communicator.

"Like hell! This is no time for a rope-a-dope!" Green Lantern scoffed from that. "I'm a member of the Green Lantern Corp. We eat monsters like this for breakfast."

Green Lantern soon flew off to handle the creature. The creature soon showed up to cause more chaos. A police car drove over only to get smashed by a van that the creature had thrown at it. Green Lantern drilled down the creature in the middle of the road before clutching it with a claw and locking it up to destroy it, though he had a hard time keeping up with his ability as he seemed to be getting a bit weak. And where the creature seemed to notice this as it glared at him before Green Lantern began to concentrate even more to make sure the claw would destroy the creature. Unfortunately, the creature was able to break free which made Green Lantern flinch from the impact. He was then punched away, but he put himself in an orb as he was sent flying from the punch. He then crashed all around as he crashed through a house and crashed through the road.

"Okay, I didn't see that coming." Green Lantern mumbled from that.

The creature then came to punch through the new orb as Green Lantern tried to protect himself with a new sphere, but the punches from the creature began to crack through like glass with its punches. And where soon enough, the creature was able to punch through the sphere, causing an explosion, knocking Green Lantern unconscious. The creature was about to do worse, but luckily for Green Lantern, Flash zipped by to get him to safety with Hawkman. Flash found Hawkman's staff as he decided to take a hold of it and used it to beat on the creature as he went to the fastest he had ever been which proved to be too much for the creature at first as it crouched down from the pain, but just as Flash was about to hit the creature again with the staff, it soon punched him. Flash grunted as that made him hit the wall. The creature was just about to finish him off before he got hit by a Baterang which made it turn around sharply. Lady Gothika stood there bravely as Batman stood with her, a bit proudly.

"Alert. Three leaders down and we only just got here," Batman said with his communicator. "Need backup now. Gothy, get ready to run. I hope you didn't claim to be sick for Gym Class."

Lady Gothika sighed, but she soon ran with him as fast as she could. The creature ran towards the building they were on top of before jumping onto the roof.

"Oh, you wanna go?" Lady Gothika glared at the creature. "Then let's go."

"You better stay out of this," Batman suggested. "You might get hurt."

"Oh, come on." Lady Gothika said.

"I don't want you to get hurt." Batman told her as he dashed off.

"...Well, at least somebody's looking out for me," Lady Gothika mumbled a bit from that as she went to get out of sight as Batman ran away from the mutant creature that chased him on the rooftop. "Where's Superboy? Shouldn't he be able to take this thing down easily?"

"Well, I better not wait for Superman much longer; I better get going." Superboy said to himself before he came to help the others out against the creature.

The creature soon stalked behind Lady Gothika as she seemed to be alone.

Lady Gothika shook chills before she let out a small gasp at what was behind her. "Heh... You don't wanna eat me... But then again, maybe you do..." She said sheepishly. "You better stay away from me, you... You... Butt Ugly Thingy."

The creature still came towards her, ready to attack her. Lady Gothika shook a bit as she felt a bit scared, but didn't want to admit it. Superboy flew behind the creature and shot laser eyes at it to get it to leave his friend alone. And where his laser eyes soon caught the creature's attention.

"Hey! Bet ya can't catch me!" Superboy mocked before he flew off.

The creature glared as it leaped off after Superboy.

"Wow... Thanks..." Lady Gothika whispered.

Superboy smirked as he flew off away from the creature before he looked around to see what he could do with it. The creature continued to leap after Superboy trying to catch him.

Superboy grabbed a lamppost to use it as a baseball bat before he hit it at the creature to send it flying back. "Superman, where are you?" he then asked himself with concern before he groaned. "Don't tell me you took that lunch date over our job!"

**_"How's it going?"_** Wonder Woman asked through the communicator.

"Where is he?" Superboy asked.

**_"Pardon?"_ **Wonder Woman replied.

"Superman," Superboy clarified. "Where is he?"

**_"Oh... He couldn't make it."_ **Wonder Woman said.

"He's on his lunch date, isn't he?" Superboy asked as he flew towards the creature to continue to fight it.

**_"He might very well be."_** Wonder Woman replied.

"Argh!" Superboy growled before he began to punch and kick at the creature. "Of all the stupid!"

Crystal spikes began to appear from where Superboy was fighting. The creature fought back as best as it could. Superboy glared as he fought back without mercy.

"He's getting a little out of control," Batman remarked from where he stood before he saw that his little helper was missing. "Gothy...?"

* * *

Lady Gothika rubbed her head as she ended up somewhere, then looked over to see a bald man with his associate. "...Is that Lex Luthor?" she asked herself a bit worriedly. She soon saw where Lex was headed.

"Dabney Donovan, how's my hard-earned money being spent?" Lex asked as he approached a man who seemed to be hard at work.

Lady Gothika hid herself away as she watched what was happening with Superman's arch-enemy.

"Lex, why it's all in front of you," Donovan told the evil man. "Every penny."

"I'll stay here; I don't do crazy very well." Lex's associate told her boss.

"Still carrying the gun?" Lex soon asked the other man as he approached him.

"Oh, yes. You never know when one of my babies might break out," Donovan replied as they came to some tanks with some hideous-looking creatures inside. "They get confused."

Lady Gothika cupped her mouth as she felt grossed out by how some of these creatures looked.

"Any progress?" Lex asked.

"Hit or miss, I expect to have more obedient samples soon," Donovan told his boss. "Very soon."

"I don't want samples; I want an army." Lex told Donovan.

"It's difficult replicating DNA," Donovan replied. "We need a more durable code. Now, that creature you told me about..."

"We're tracking it down, Dabney," Lex told him. "Don't count your chickens."

Lady Gothika peeked her head out as she tried to keep quiet.

"What about this one?" Lex then asked as he came to one tank. "This was to be the prototype."

"It's still growing." Donovan informed.

"What is that?" Lady Gothika whispered to herself as she tried to take a look at what was inside the tank.

There seemed to be a human-like body inside of the tank that was curled up a bit.

"Whaaa...?" Lady Gothika muttered from that.

"Lex!" Lex's female associate alerted as she took out her phone with a smirk. "We found it."

"I have to tell the others." Lady Gothika whispered to herself.

Lex looked over as he thought he saw some company. Lady Gothika was about to leave before she choked as her cape was snagged.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Lex's associate smirked as she grabbed the perky goth's cape. "A little spy?"

"Let... Go..." Lady Gothika coughed as she was strangled from that.

Lex's associate smirked as she didn't let go until Lady Gothika used her magic to get herself free.

"Surprise!" Lady Gothika smirked.

"What the-?!" Lex's associate glared. "Get back over here!"

"Mercy, what is it?" Lex asked her.

"I'll take care of it," The woman told her boss. "Don't worry about me."

"Not for long~" Lady Gothika replied as she focused on teleportation as she was able to get herself out of there.

* * *

Batman was still fighting with what he could.

"Batman?" Lady Gothika asked as she appeared before she yelped from the fight.

"I wondered where you ran off to." Batman said to her.

"What's going on? Isn't Superboy fighting that creature?" Lady Gothika asked.

"He was for a minute, but he's gone now." Batman told him as he came to fight.

"Hmm... Where did he go?" Lady Gothika pondered a bit.

"Gothy, you should go back to the Cave," Batman suggested. "You could get hurt."

"I'm not a baby, Bruce," Lady Gothika grumbled from that. She soon the creature about to throw a vehicle. "Look out!" she then gasped fearfully.

The car was thrown as Batman luckily swooped out of the way. The creature then grabbed the car again as he got on the road to try to hit Batman with it.

Batman grabbed Lady Gothika and used his Bat grappling hook to fly them out of the way as the creature tried to slam him down in the middle of the road. "I'm going to get the Batmobile to take you home." he told her firmly.

"I'm fine though!" Lady Gothika told him.

"It's not safe here." Batman told her.

"Argh..." Lady Gothika grumbled as they soon came up on a rooftop together.

The creature came after them which made them both hop away as it smashed through the buildings that they passed through together.

"Wait here." Batman told Lady Gothika before he swooped away again as the creature grabbed a train boxcar to throw at him.

"'Wait here'," Lady Gothika rolled her eyes. "I'm almost an adult for Pete's sake!" She then had an idea and which included her magic.

Atticus stormed down the streets out of his Superboy guise as he came to look for Lois and Clark before he stopped to think of where his adoptive father could be until he remembered a place that was recommended to him from the beginning, so he headed right that way.

* * *

**_At the Ace of Club's diner..._**

"And then I says to Superman, I says, 'Hit him with an uppercut. Now counterpunch, counterpunch'! And that's pretty much how I helped him save the city, more or less." Bippo smiled as he told a story to Lois and Clark.

"That's quite a story." Clark said.

"I got a hundred of 'em." Bippo chuckled.

"I'll bet you do," Lois smirked playfully. "How about menus, do you have any of those?"

"Oh, yeah. Here you go," Bippo smiled sheepishly as he gave them the menus. "Try the ribs. It comes with super sauce and a side of super slaw."

"Um... Super." Lois said before looking at her menu.

At that, Bippo gave them their menus and walked off. Atticus stormed through town a bit as he looked very angry and disappointed.

"I'm sorry," Clark said to Lois. "Jimmy loves this place."

"Jimmy Olsen eats chili dogs for breakfast," Lois retorted before she asked. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"

"Okay," Clark sighed as he came clean. "The other day you said it felt like I was holding back, like something was wrong. You were right."

"Okay, glad to know I'm not crazy," Lois said as she put her menu down. "Well, this doesn't have to be a bad break-up; I'm still going to come to work each day, if that's a problem, that's for you to deal with I-"

"Wait, let me finish," Clark said to silence her. "There's a reason why I'm so secretive. And I think you deserve to know why." he then said as he tried to stay calm and patient.

"And...?" Lois asked, looking slightly impatient.

Atticus kept storming through town, getting closer to the Ace of Club's diner.

"I'm Superman." Clark soon finally said.

Atticus nearly tripped in the middle of the sidewalk like that triggered him somehow. "Guh?" he grunted out before he stood back up.

Lois was quiet for a few minutes before she began to laugh like it was a joke. "That's... That's good, Clark. You got me." she then said to her co-worker.

Clark looked serious before looking behind to see if anyone was listening before facing Lois again after taking off his glasses. Atticus soon arrived at the diner window before he saw his adoptive father and Lois through the window and by how he took off his glasses, Atticus could already tell his adoptive father was giving away his superhero secret to Lois.

"Look at me." Clark soon told Lois as they looked into each other's eyes.

Lois looked at him for a long minute or two before her eyes widened as she realized that he was telling the truth. "Oh, my God! This is insane, but it makes total sense. You... You always showed up around the same time. It was like you were just there."

Clark hid a small smirk as he slid his glasses back on.

"I can't believe this!" Atticus grunted to himself. "I just can't believe this!"

"And you were good. Too good," Lois said to Clark as she was still in shock. "Oh, my God, this is so unethical. You wrote stories about yourself!"

"Well, yeah, but only a couple of times," Clark told her. "I really wanted a job."

"You never take vacations, you never sweat, you never tan..." Lois realized before she asked about Jonathon and Martha. "Are those people even your parents?

"They are and I adopted Atticus and he knows about this, but you know, it's complicated." Clark replied.

"Oh. My. God... You're from another planet," Lois said to him before whispering to herself. "My boyfriend's from another planet."

"Listen, Lois, I'm just a guy from a small town who wants to do the right thing, but doing what I do could put my family in danger," Clark said to her as he took her hand softly. "I did this so that they wouldn't have to pay for my choices."

"And now you want me to live with it, too." Lois muttered from that.

"I hope you can because there's been something else I've been keeping secret." Clark replied.

Lois's cell phone soon began to start going off.

"You want to get that?" Clark suggested.

Lois looked at him, then took the call. "Jimmy, I'm busy. Call back-" she then said at first. "What? What? Speak up. I can't hear you."

**_"Chief wants you on the chopper!"_ **Jimmy told her as he was on a helicopter right now.**_ "I'll be right there!"_**

"Wait, why?" Lois asked.

**_"A monster's heading towards Metropolis,"_** Jimmy replied urgently.**_ "He's already taken out half the Justice League."_**

Lois hung up as she was about to face Clark. "Well, I guess you must have heard-" she then said before she looked across the table to see that Clark was already gone. "That."

At the table, there was money left behind that included a note that was labeled "My Last Secret".

* * *

Clark rushed out the door before he ran into a familiar face. "Atticus! What a surprise..." he then said. "You're out of school early today, I guess?"

"I had a feeling you'd be here with Miss Lane." Atticus said.

"Yes, but right now it's 'Super Time'." Clark told him as he got out of his adoptive son's way.

"Right," Atticus nodded. "And Dad, I'm sorry for what I said."

"Do you forgive me?" Clark asked.

"I'll think about Miss Lane and Miss Diana later, but I'm sorry." Atticus said.

"Well... I'm sorry too..." Clark replied softly. "I guess I was being a bit unfair to you."

"Yes, but I should have been understanding." Atticus said as he changed into Superboy.

Clark smiled a bit from that as he rushed off to get himself ready as Superman. Lois took a look at the mysterious note before he saw that inside it said "I love you" before she flinched as she heard Clark taking off with Atticus as Superboy and Superman.

"Last time I saw that ugly thing was that Lady Gothika and Batman were trying to whack at it," Superboy told Superman. "Hopefully they're not hurt... Or worse."

"Did you try to fight it?" Superman asked.

"Yeah, but it's almost unstoppable," Superboy replied. "Flash and Hawkman are lucky they didn't get killed."

"And what about Green Lantern?" Superman asked as they flew off to where the creature and the team.

"He did what he could," Superboy replied. "We gotta go. There's not much of us left."

* * *

The Batmobile soon drove off on its own as Lady Gothika was lying down in the back-seat.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here, but this story is mostly about Atticus, but I'll help keep you healthy and safe," Bat-Mite said as he acted like her nurse. "Hopefully Nightwing and the other Teen Titans understand."

"This is just unfair." Lady Gothika said.

"I'm sure the Supers can handle it from her," Bat-Mite smirked. "Why don't we get a little comfortable together?"

"Don't make me flick you back into the 5th-dimension." Lady Gothika threatened.

"Uh... Um... Let's watch some TV while the others on screen take care of the rest of the story for us?" Bat-Mite said sheepishly as he pulled on the screen corner like a page as he flipped to the next scene for them.


	8. Chapter 8

Lois watched Superman and Superboy take off just as Jimmy arrived with the helicopter. And once Jimmy arrived with the helicopter, Lois took off running to the helicopter. The creature soon began to tear Cyborg apart. Good thing he was part robot or this would be a bit horrifying to see. Aquaman quickly tackled from behind to hit the creature with his trident and where the shock from the trident did some damage to the creature. Martian Manhunter then rushed over to beat at the creature. Jessica took a look at this for herself with a special screen.

"I might have to go after them." Wonder Woman told Jessica as they were both still at The Watchtower.

"I think so too," Jessica said. "But it's almost like they're fighting Superman."

"I better get ready," Wonder Woman told her. "You stay here. Just remember not to tell your friends about this."

Jessica sighed a bit. "I don't have very many friends," She then said. "You do your job though. Don't worry about me."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Wonder Woman told her.

Jessica gave a small smile. And at that, Wonder Woman took off.

"Hmm... My big sister instincts tell me that I have to help out my little brother and in more than just finding our parents." Jessica said to herself, but of course she was right because it would involve Superman's upcoming death.

* * *

The creature soon punched and kicked Martian Manhunter away before getting Aquaman off it and punched him to a building. Martian Manhunter tried to get back up. The creature soon stomped towards the alien superhero before trying to punch him only to make himself intangible.

Batman came beside a building as he turned on his com-link. "Can you tell what he's thinking?" he then asked.

"No real thoughts," Martian Manhunter replied as he was unhit by the punches and even getting roared at. "It's all aggressive, all about the fight. Killing machine."

The creature soon looked to where Batman was and looked like it was going after him next.

"No!" Martian Manhunter cried out from that as he phased through the creature to go after Batman.

The creature stopped him as he grabbed him by the head and tossed him away which caused an explosion. Martian Manhunter wailed out in a bit of agony as he was burned a bit from the flames before he fell flat on the ground. The creature soon went to finish off Martian Manhunter. Batman took that time to toss out a Baterang which exploded on impact as it hit the creature. The creature growled at the Dark Knight and tossed a truck right at him.

"Batman, head's up!" Cyborg called out as he brought out a grappling rope for Batman.

Batman took that time to slide down the rope before the truck could hit him, but stumbled as he hit the ground and fell a bit on his side. The creature soon growled as it faced some buildings before going towards them.

"Not looking too good, Cyborg." Batman grunted as he sat in a crater that kept Cyborg who looked very damaged and in a lot of pain.

"We can take this creep," Cyborg replied. "Come on! Let's-" he then grunted a bit before he fell over a bit.

Batman tried to catch him just as Wonder Woman appeared.

"Where is that monstrosity?" Wonder Woman glowered.

"South," Batman told her as he tried to help Cyborg. "Heading towards Metropolis."

* * *

Wonder Woman soon took off flying to Metropolis.

"We need you and Atticus, Clark." Batman said as he looked up to the sky.

The creature stomped through the town as Wonder Woman leaped through the air right behind it before she landed right in front of it to help take it down while Superman and Superboy seemed to be late right now.

"I call you out, monster!" Wonder Woman glared.

The creature soon ran towards her and she ran towards it before the two began to fight each other next. And with two hits, Wonder Woman sent the creature back as it hit the road. Wonder Woman came to finish it off, only for the creature to kick her away through the air. Wonder Woman skidded a bit on the road before she stood up straight. The creature collided with Wonder Woman before she kicked it away into the "Welcome to Metropolis" sign from up above. Wonder Woman soon began to start punching the creature over and over with her shield.

The creature looked a bit unfazed from the beating he was given from the Amazon woman. The sliding on the road soon stopped as the creature whacked Wonder Woman away into a nearby building. Wonder Woman slid down before her ponytail holder broke and shattered which made her ebony hair drop down over her shoulders. She then brought out her golden lasso only to get thrashed by the creature as it came right behind her. The creature began to pound at her before the dust cleared to show that it had missed as it was just punching the wall of the building as there was a hole where Wonder Woman was.

Wonder Woman soon came behind it as she tossed out her golden lasso to grasp him. "I compel you to surrender!" she called out before she spun it around as it crashed a bit.

The creature soon got itself free as it crashed against a truck.

"You may resist the lasso, mindless creature, but by Hera, you will fall!" Wonder Woman glared as she drew out her sword before she charged right at the creature.

The creature soon began to throw three vehicles at Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman luckily avoided them all before she sliced the third and final vehicle as she whacked at the creature with the other half. The creature got free and soon hit her back which made her bounce backwards onto the road. Wonder Woman yelled out as she got back on her feet before trying to stab it with her sword, but it shattered as its fist caught the sword as it was made out of metal. The creature soon punched her in the face, sending Wonder Woman flying back onto the road on her back.

Wonder Woman grunted as she felt intense pain from that. The creature then jumped up high before whamming down on Wonder Woman and it punched her mercilessly. It soon saw her sword far from her reach and decided to use that to finish the job. Luckily, before it could, it was blown back by some laser vision which made it crash against a vehicle as it exploded.

"Miss Diana..." Superboy nearly cried as he finally arrived with Superman.

"We should have gotten here sooner." Superman said.

"Not your fault." Wonder Woman smiled, though a bit wearily through the pain.

"You wait here, okay?" Superman replied as he went to leave. "Superboy, stay here with her."

"Wait," Wonder Woman said as she took his hand. "Take him down, Clark. Don't hold back or he'll kill everyone."

"You can take him, Dad." Superboy said.

"You be careful, alright?" Superman asked him.

"I will," Superboy promised. "I'll be right here."

Superman nodded as he took that time to go.

"I hope you guys get married someday," Superboy said to Wonder Woman. "I think you would be a great mom."

"We can only see what the future holds." Wonder Woman told him.

"I'm just glad you're not terribly hurt." Superboy said, slightly tearful.

"I've felt worse." Wonder Woman assured him.

Superboy wiped his eyes before they watched Superman in action. The creature emerged from the flames as Superman watched out for it. The creature roared loudly as it got out of the flames as it looked still angry.

"I don't know what hole you crawled out of or where you came from, but I'm sending you back." Superman glared darkly at the creature.

The creature soon roared at him before charging at the Man of Steel. Superman acted quickly as he threw his fist, but the creature caught it while his other hand slapped onto the creature. This made a big vibration over the area while Superboy waited with Wonder Woman. Glass shattered as the two held onto each other as it looked as though the creature could beat Superman in strength.

And where Superman grunted as the road underneath his feet crumbled slightly. The creature glared at the Man of Steel until it shot it's own laser eyes at him. Superboy watched with both confidence and suspense as he watched his adoptive father in action. The creature growled and shot laser-eyes right back at Superman which pushed him into a building by force.

"Oof," Superboy winced for Superman as he got ready to help if he had to. "He has laser-eyes too?!"

"I didn't know he had laser eyes." Wonder Woman said.

Superboy gulped a bit. "This could be a bit difficult for Dad, then."

Wonder Woman gently patted his shoulders to help soothe him. Superman glared as he wiped his forehead before he saw that it drew blood before he flew back over towards the creature. The creature ran towards him before they both crashed into another building as Jimmy's helicopter flew overhead and where the sound wave from the crash shook the helicopter slightly.

* * *

"This creature has not been identified by the government and is rumored to have left members of the Justice League wounded or near-death in Carlon Heights." Lois reported as Jimmy filmed her.

This was soon broadcast all over, especially at the Ace of Clubs' diner as a certain sailor watched this with his patrons.

* * *

"Hey, if you ain't gotta place to go, you can stay with me while Superman cleans this clown's clock," Bibbo told his customers. "I'll be here for you. Just like my buddy Supes is always there for us."

* * *

Even Lex was being informed on the fight while he was in his limo.

"Question is, will Superman once again meet the challenge and keep this Doomsday out of Metropolis?" Lois soon asked the viewers.

Jessica gasped a bit as she watched this on her phone as she stayed put back at the Watchtower.

"Oh, cry me a river." Lex said.

Mercy glanced over as they saw this on a video screen as the limo drove them to a secret, underground spot. "Fascinating. What kind of civilization would produce that?" she then said. "It seems its only function is destruction."

"Perhaps it's a weapon," Lex replied with an evil smile. "A first strike meant to wipe out all life on a planet for a conquering force."

"That would explain why it came to Metropolis; it's the world's strongest population centers." Mercy said.

"Who besides me would send an apex predator here to kill the strongest thing it could find?" Lex smirked as they rode off together.

* * *

Soon, the limo came to a stop which made the two walk out to walk through the room together.

"You think it might kill Superman?" Mercy asked her boss.

"It would save me a lot of trouble." Lex replied.

"And what about Superboy?" Mercy asked.

"It doesn't seem to be as interested in Superboy as it is with Superman actually." Lex replied thoughtfully.

And where that would be the creature/Doomsday's mistake, especially after the killing of a certain Man of Steel. It would cause the Boy of Steel to finish off Doomsday to avenge his adoptive father.

"But what if the caped wonder can't bring him down?" Lex grinned darkly to Mercy as they prepared for Doomsday together. "Metropolis will still need to be protected."

A battle suit soon rises in front of them.

"Luckily, it's a day I've been planning for a long time." Lex grinned from that.

* * *

Word got out all around as things didn't get much better for Superman against Doomsday.

**_"The United States metahuman adviser department is recommending all civilians head to safety zones."_ **The car radios advised.

A woman was in her car with her young son who was playing his video game as they drove across the Golden Gate bridge.

"Mom! Look!" The boy spoke up. "It's Superboy!"

"Huh?" The mother asked as she leaned out her window.

"Get home! Quick!" Superboy called out as he flew overhead of the citizens.

And where soon enough, the mother got out of the car and then got her son out of the car.

"Everybody, get out of the way!" Superboy told the people. "Doomsday is coming!"

Everyone began to leave their vehicles and began to run for their lives. Superman soon flew over with Doomsday, a bit bruised and bloodied up as the creature refused to quit. Superboy decided to help out the innocent people while his father was busy with the creature. Unfortunately, one of the innocent people was stuck in her car as she couldn't seem to get her seat-belt free.

"Oh, no!" Superboy gasped at her.

Superman ripped the car open to help the poor woman out before catching another car that was thrown at him. The cars slid down the road with Superman which wedged the woman even further as she gasped in quite a bit of pain. Doomsday soon punched through the second car and grabbed Superman before pulling him towards him and began to slam the Man of Steel on the road over and over before punching him. Superboy decided to help the poor woman.

"Thank you, Superboy." The woman said, a bit shakily.

"It's what I do, like my father before me." Superboy told her as he helped her out.

Superman soon hit Doomsday with his heat vision, sending him flying across the bridge before crashing down. The Man of Steel soon began to start punching Doomsday. Doomsday soon grabbed Superman and whacked him on the ground repeatedly like he was a rag doll.

"Stop it!" Superboy cried out.

Doomsday smirked as he then stopped that before striking Superman in the face.

"Okay, wise guy..." Superboy glared as he shot his laser-vision at Doomsday.

Doomsday grunted as that sent him flying across the bridge before hitting the middle of the bridge.

"Get him, Dad!" Superboy glared.

Superman growled as he beat down Doomsday as best as he could as Superboy seemed to be right. This creature seemed very impossible. Doomsday soon grabbed Superman and flung him against a car and a truck before grabbing the back of the truck and slammed it on the ground a couple of times before he got hit by more laser-eyes as Superman freed himself. Superman soon began to hit Doomsday with a truck part.

Some civilians hid away as some of them tried to film the events before their eyes, but it would be too dangerous from where they stood together. Doomsday soon grabbed Superman and flung him against the bridge. Superman groaned a bit from where he was thrown as this didn't look good for him before he was stomped on a few times. And where the force began to start causing cracks to show up and for some support cables to come loose. Superman was soon punched away some more.

"Stop! Leave my dad alone!" Superboy growled.

Doomsday soon flicked him away as he went to go after Superman. Superman soon got up and flew towards Doomsday with one of the loose support cables.

"That should hold him..." Superboy panted as he came out from the water that he splashed into. "At least... I hope so..."

Doomsday let out a roar as he was tied up just like that. Superman caught his breath as Doomsday seemed to be defeated. For now, but of course, he would come back somehow.

"You okay, Dad?" Superboy asked his adoptive father once he flew up to him.

"I... I think so..." Superman said to him. "Maybe you should go home. This could get very messy."

"No way, I'm not leaving." Superboy shook his head before they heard Doomsday roar.

"Looks like he's about to get free again." Superman remarked.

The cables got a little loose as it looked like Doomsday could break free at any second. The people ran all around in a panic before a mother tripped and made her son's video game console fall from her pocket which made the boy go after it as his mother fell on the ground.

"Joey! No!" The mother cried out to her son.

Doomsday soon roared again before he got one of the support cables off him.

"Why?" Superboy sighed. "We all should've kicked that ugly butt hours ago!"

"Somebody help my child!" The mother cried out as Superman flew towards Doomsday.

The bridge rumbled as a huge piece was about to crash and fall on the boy as he came to get his video game.

"I gotcha!" Superboy said as he flew over to save the boy's life.

Once he was close enough, Superboy saved the boy and his game. CRASH! The weights fell, but of course, Superboy wasn't hurt too bad as he was more concerned for the young boy in trouble.

"Get back to your mom, son," Superboy advised as he pushed the weights off of his back before he brought out the video game. "Everything's going to be okay."

The boy beamed as he got his video game back before he went to go back to his mother before he came by to hug Superboy in thanks and went back to his mother.

"You're welcome," Superboy smiled before glaring backwards. "Now I've had just about enough of you, Ugly!"

"Leave him to me." Superman told him.

"I'll help you." Superboy said.

"I think you should go back home," Superman replied. "You're still pretty young."

"Yeah, but need I remind you who was able to give you a run for your money before you adopted me?" Superboy asked.

Superman sighed. "There's no use getting you to go back home, is there?" he then asked out of defeat.

"I refuse to leave when you need my help the most." Superboy replied.

"...Well... All right..." Superman then said. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'll handle any danger that comes my way." Superboy said.

"Just remember what I said." Superman advised.

"I'll stay here all night if I have to." Superboy said as he cracked his neck a bit.

* * *

Cherry and Lionel looked at each other as they watched this at the Titans' tower together as they felt a bit worried for Atticus.

"Hmm... Maybe I should help him out." Lionel said to his "beloved".

"I dunno..." Cherry said. "I know you have 5th-dimensional powers, but that ugly guy might eat your soul upon arrival."

"Oh, please. That guy might be strong, but he couldn't handle my powers." Lionel smirked.

"Lionel...?" Cherry shook nervously.

"Don't worry your gorgeous, pretty little head~" Lionel told her as he became Bat-Mite again. "I'll save my future, honorary bro-in-law and his old man... Until we solve this family secret of his."

"Is everybody in your world impulsive?" Cherry asked.

"More or less," Bat-Mite smirked. "Watch me go at it."

POOF! he disappeared before he came back, tattered up and looking beat-up.

"Okay, I take it back..." Bat-Mite said wearily before he fell through the air and landed flat on his back.

Cherry rolled her eyes from that.

"I'm guessing he's from Apokalips." Bat-Mite groaned.

"That seems to be the case," Cherry said as she took him to the couch to lie down. "Here, you lay down here."

"Can we play 'Doctor'?" Bat-Mite smirked.

Cherry narrowed her eyes and a SLAP! sound was heard outside the Titans' Tower.

"Yow!" Bat-Mite yelped.

* * *

Superman and Superboy flew out towards Doomsday only for him to throw a boat out at them.

"Ready to return to sender!" Superboy glared as he and Superman caught the boat.

Doomsday crushed through the boat without a scratch as the boat was thrown right back at them. Superboy and Superboy then flew right towards Doomsday as that was a mere diversion at first.

"Pull!" Superman told Superboy.

Superboy nodded from that as they both grabbed a hold of a part of Doomsday to grab him down. And where as they pulled him down onto the road the part of the bridge, they were on came apart from the rest of the bridge and came crashing down to the ocean. People all over continued watch in mild suspense as some of them filmed on their phones between the fight of Superman and Superboy vs Doomsday. There seemed to be explosions from the water before Superboy and Superman were both punched away right out of the water and sent flying through the air and where Doomsday went after them, but mostly for Superman.

"Superman!" Superboy gasped.

Doomsday tackled Superman down to the middle of the city road as it became night time. The Daily Planet helicopter was soon shown hovering by.

"Oh, man!" Jimmy warned Lois as he filmed the fight. "Superman's not looking good."

* * *

Martha and Jonathan were seen watching the news and where they were worried for their son.


	9. Chapter 9

Superboy attempted to fly after Doomsday as Superman was buried in a bunch of debris that looked quite painful, even for a Man of Steel. Doomsday struck Superman before he looked over to see the light from the helicopter up above and this caused him to roar out loud. He then grabbed Superman by his ankle and threw him up towards the helicopter like a projectile. This caused the pilot of the helicopter to try to get out of Superman's path. However, Superman hit the propeller which shook the helicopter a bit with pretty critical damage.

Lois and Jimmy yelled out as they were about to fall to their deaths. Superboy quickly flew down as he grabbed a hold of the helicopter to keep it from falling dangerously and he soon got the helicopter safely down onto a nearby building. Lois opened her eyes in relief as she stepped out of the helicopter to see Superboy there, helping out.

"At least you guys are safe." Superboy breathed in relief.

"What about you?" Lois asked.

"Don't worry about us," Superboy replied as he tried to ignore the warning he was told about his adoptive father which was set to come very soon. "Your lives are more important right now."

"Is everyone safe?" Superman asked as he flew over.

"We need to call in the cavalry." Lois replied.

"I _am_ the cavalry." Superman smiled calmly.

"Oh, Dad..." Superboy sighed a bit from that.

Doomsday's roar was soon heard as he was causing more damage.

"You can't go back after that thing," Lois told Superman as she held him. "It's suicide!"

"So was following in a chopper." Superman smirked a bit.

Doomsday roared as he ran through the city as he refused to stop his reign of terror.

"I have to get back to work." Superman then said.

Doomsday soon leaped off towards the building they were on. Lois gasped from that.

"Laser eyes." Superman quickly told Superboy.

* * *

The two dashed off as Doomsday came towards Lois as the father and son team zapped their laser eyes together before Superman took what looked like a giant baseball bat as he tried to bash it against the creature that terrorized Metropolis. And where it sent Doomsday flying into the sky and soon Superman flew up towards him as he used his heat vision against him.

"Great one!" Superboy cheered from that.

Superman pounded Doomsday further through the clouds as they came deep into the skies as he beat him even further. However, Doomsday soon fought back as he grabbed Superman by his cape before he headbutted him several times as they came back crashing down to the Earth as they fell with great speed like comets out of the sky. Lois ran off at this as Jimmy came after her as they watched Superman go at Doomsday, but the Man of Steel seemed to be losing so far, which was not a good sign for anybody.

"Oh, no; this is bad..." Superboy frowned.

Superman grunted through the punches before he shot out more laser eyes which made them both crash in the middle of the street which came with a rather large explosion. This made glass windows from the building shatter from the big thud and cars flew all over the place from the impact.

"At this point, it's impossible to tell who's the victor," Lois reported as Jimmy filmed her as they stood before a flaming crater from the explosive impact from the fight. "Though Superman has come from behind before-"

Doomsday soon emerged from the crater and came out, still undefeated. He soon began to make his way to Lois and Jimmy and was going to attack them before getting greeted by Superboy.

"What's up, son of a-" Superboy growled a bit as he tackled the creature to the ground.

Doomsday roared right in his face which blew his dark brown hair back.

"Phew!" Superboy gasped as he waved the air in front of his face. "You need a breath mint or something."

Doomsday growled as he was ready to strike. Superman soon came out next, very tattered, uniform-wise. Doomsday grabbed a hold of Superman as he tried to charge, only to end up on the ground with a bloodied face. Superboy glared as he jumped onto Doomsday's back. Doomsday roared as he reached behind him to grab the Boy of Steel.

"Go back to where you came from!" Superboy glared as he kicked at Doomsday.

Doomsday was soon sent flying from the kick.

"My father won't quit, what makes you think I will?" Superboy glared at Doomsday.

Doomsday crashed back down before roaring as he was going to kill Superboy. Superboy felt startled, but glared as he kept his guard up to fight Doomsday without fear.

"Oh, Atticus..." Jessica whispered worriedly from the Watchtower.

Superboy began to fight back at Doomsday as he tried to protect himself and as much of Metropolis as possible without getting himself killed. And where he used almost every super power he had, except for his crystal power since he didn't know how to control it without losing his temper.

Drell teleported himself over to the Watchtower. "How's it going?" he then asked Jessica.

"I'm very worried." Jessica said sadly as she ran over to him to hug him as she felt scared for her little brother's life.

"We can only hope for the best." Drell said.

Jessica hugged him a bit.

"Uh... There, there... It's okay..." Drell said as he tried to comfort her by patting her on the back.

"Go back to where you came from, I say!" Superboy glared as he used his superpowers at Doomsday.

Doomsday glared back as he roared at him as he fought after Superboy and getting past his powers. Superboy yelled out as he got hit a few times as he tried not to let that stop him.

* * *

Lois looked very tearful over what was happening to both Superman and Superboy as she wished that she could help somehow. She soon started to see something coming out of the ground and buildings. "Wh-What's that...?" she asked herself softly. "Is it another threat?" She soon saw they were crystal spikes ready to strike. "Oh, my..."

"You've pushed my buttons too far, Doomsday!" Superboy glared as someone else watched the fight.

* * *

"Hmm... Interesting..." Sombra smirked. "This could be my chance to shine with the boy."

Doomsday roared as he shot his laser vision at the Boy of Steel. Superboy growled as he did his best to stay strong and fight back. Sombra chuckled a bit as he kept watching this as he felt very intrigued.

Lex was seen in his battle suit and was aiming for Doomsday.

"Hmm... What's this?" Sombra paused a bit.

"Lex Luthor?" Superboy grunted.

"Stay out of my way." Lex warned as he shot fire at Doomsday which blew the creature back, far away from them.

"Uh, thanks for the help?" Superboy said, looking confused at Lex.

"It was my pleasure, Superboy," Lex replied as he came after Doomsday. "Lane, Olsen, keep the camera rolling. You'll wanna get this." he then requested.

"Seriously, what the heck?" Superboy muttered to himself.

Doomsday tried to come out, only to get shot at from Lex yet again.

"You think taking down the Justice League is supposed to scare us?" Lex smirked at the creature. "That happens once a week."

Superboy couldn't believe his eyes Lex Luthor was holding his own against Doomsday. The laser blast hit Doomsday farther back as the creature crashed a bit more.

"I don't know where you've come from, you alien scum, but you've picked the wrong city," Lex glared as he came to clobber Doomsday some more with fury. "And the wrong human. Metropolis is, and always has been, under the protection of Lex Luthor, you son of a bitch!"

"Uh... Yeah... About that..." Superboy glanced away slightly. "I don't think so much."

"Hmm... So my nephew disagrees with him; this is going to be very interesting." Sombra told himself.

* * *

"Now to get a piece of you." Lex grinned manically as he stood over Doomsday.

"Uh... Lex... You should know..." Superboy said. "Doomsday sorta has-"

Doomsday shot Lex off of him with his own laser vision with a low growl.

"Erm... Never mind..." Superboy said sheepishly from that.

"Thanks for the late warning." Lex groaned before his suit and himself were sent flying after the laser vision hit.

"Guh... Sorry...?" Superboy said bashfully.

"Step back, you freak of nature!" Lex yelled out as Doomsday came to him.

Doomsday tried to punch the glass to get Lex out to destroy him.

"I'm not sure whether to help or not..." Superboy said to himself.

"No! Stay away from me!" Lex cried out. "I am Lex Luthor! I'm supposed to win!"

Superman soon got up and flew off to help Lex out.

"Dad, you're still okay." Superboy smiled.

Superman ruffled up his hair as he came after Doomsday and Lex.

"No! I'm supposed to win! No!" Lex yelled out.

Doomsday caught him by his throat, taking him right out of his battlesuit before he tossed the villain far away to kill him from whatever he would land on, but unfortunately for Doomsday, Superman was able to cushion Lex's landing. It was a bit surprising that Superman saved Lex as they were arch-enemies, but of course, Superman had to do what was right for everybody.

"NO!" Lex cried out as Superman flew out towards Doomsday to stop this.

Superman tackled Doomsday before they soon crashed through the building together, though they both tumbled and rolled from the crash and they both ended up on the floor, but with Doomsday by the staircase. Doomsday soon got up from the staircase with a growl as he began to pant. Superman breathed shallowly as he wiped away some blood from his face before he got up to fight back. The two charged at each other with flight before they struck each other in the faces which caused a bit of a sonic boom.

Jimmy, Lois, and Superboy are soon seen going to the building to see how the fight was going before getting hit by the sonic boom. The building crumbled into pieces from the sonic boom as the three screeched into a halt as Superman was still beating up Doomsday. Doomsday soon punched Superman away into a large pile which worried Lois deeply. Superman was flat in the pile as more blood scraped him as Doomsday stomped toward him. Superman soon got back up and soon lunged at Doomsday with a punch, only for him to miss as Doomsday grabbed his head and toss him a little to the ground. Doomsday wrapped Superman's neck with his cape and lifted it up.

Superman let out a strangled sound before his face was thrown flat on the ground as Doomsday kept torturing him. Superman's cape was soon thrown off as Doomsday stood victoriously before he felt something get thrown at him before he looked out to see Lois across from them. Lois glared a bit from where she stood before she dropped a rock that she had in her hand. Doomsday glared with a growl as he stomped his way to Lois.

"Clark?" Lois whispered softly.

Superman lifted his head as Doomsday brought out what looked like razor-sharp claws as he made his way to Lois with a heavy growl.

"I got your note," Lois whispered with tears in her eyes. "And I love you, too."

Doomsday was shown ready to strike her down. Superman soon found the strength to get up and fly towards Doomsday, striking him right in the face which made his face turn over in a bit of an uncomfortable way.

"Daaaaaaaaannnnngggg!" Superboy cried out from that.

* * *

There was a very big explosion from that which shook the area all around them which even brought out a huge splash of water. And where soon, Doomsday is shown dead.

"At last..." Superboy breathed in relief now that Doomsday was finally taken care of.

Superman grunted before he fell to the ground as he got Doomsday off and was now in great pain.

"Dad!" Superboy cried out as he rushed over to his adoptive father as Lois carried him in his arms.

"Stay with me," Lois begged tearfully. "Please, stay with me."

"That thing, is he-" Superman started his question.

"Yes, you did it; you saved everyone." Lois answered him tearfully.

"We did it, Dad," Superboy added. "Mostly you of course. I'm so sorry I was being a brat before. I was just so mad and mortified."

"Good. It's all I ever wanted. Except for you," Superman smiled as he touched Lois's face. "I'm glad we got to make up too, Superboy. I'm very proud to have found a son like you despite our fights before. What a lucky man I was."

Lois held Superman, though more tears came to her eyes as Superman's hand came down as those seemed to be his last words. Tears began to stream down Superboy's eyes as this was a heartbreaking moment. Jimmy filmed this very sad moment in Metropolis's history as it wasn't just sad for Superboy and Lois. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, Jessica, Lady Gothika, and Bat-Mite soon arrived at the scene.

"Oh, buddy... I'm so sorry..." Bat-Mite said softly as he felt the worst for Atticus.

The others from the Justice League soon rushed over as Lady Gothika hugged Batman good and tight as she seemed to cry against him as she felt the same way. Everyone that saw this sad scene on the news was heartbroken.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day came which would be a goodbye ceremony/funeral for the Man of Steel.

"So, where do you go from here?" Cherry asked Atticus. "Where are you gonna live?"

"I... I don't know, Cherry..." Atticus said, sadly. "Where can I go?"

"You could always stay with your grandparents," Cherry said. "Although they aren't going to be staying in Metropolis forever."

"Th-There actually is one that can stay with," Atticus frowned. "I just don't know where I can find him."

"...Your birth father..." Cherry guessed.

"Not him..." Atticus shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know where he is either, but I feel closer to this other guy."

"Oh?" Cherry asked.

"My uncle." Atticus replied.

"...Oh... Your uncle... Of course..." Cherry smiled weakly before she looked curious. "Uh... He's friendly, right?"

"I hope so." Atticus frowned. He soon felt his crystal power telling him where to go.

"I'll come to the funeral with you," Cherry said. "Luckily there's no school today."

"Yeah..." Atticus said softly, though he felt a little distracted.

They came together, sitting next to each other and Cherry held Atticus's hand in a non-romantic way to help comfort him through the tough time.

"Superman was an example that inspired us to reach beyond ourselves, to soar towards a better tomorrow," A man spoke to the citizens who had come to the funeral which of course, included the Justice League members who stood on the stage by the closed casket. "He was a hero to Metropolis, but more importantly, he was a friend."

Patch was seen nuzzling against his master's right leg, whimpering. Atticus pet Patch softly as he sat quietly, though he had tears in his eyes.

* * *

Jonathan and Martha were the most devastated even if no one knew why, except for those who knew about Clark Kent and Superman.

"Really, sorry, sir," An officer said to Jonathan as he held his weeping wife as they were too close. "I need you to step back a bit."

Jonathan stepped back a bit as he held Martha protectively.

"...Is she gonna be okay?" The officer asked about Martha.

"Yes, Officer. It's just a big loss for everyone." Jonathan covered up softly.

"Yeah, Superman was kinda like family, wasn't he?" The officer agreed.

"He doesn't know how right he is." Atticus whispered to himself as he heard that, thanks to his super-hearing.

"Of course, he didn't act alone," The man continued as Wonder Woman glanced over softly. "The Justice League also put their lives on the line against this brutal, incomprehensible evil."

Lionel offered tissues for Cherry, but she declined as she still did feel sad, but not enough to cry, but she took off her glasses.

* * *

Bruce was shown back at Gotham with Alfred, Damian, and Ace. Damian did what he could to comfort his father as they gazed out the window together. The Teen Titans gathered together as they watched the funeral on a big screen TV.

* * *

Lionel sat beside Cherry and Atticus as he brought them both into a hug as they all shared a similar pain with each other.

"In many ways, I'm sure they feel the loss of their leader and comrade, most of all," The mayor continued his farewell speech. "And let us not forget the quick action from Lex Luthor, who allowed Superman the time he needed to save us all. Ladies and gentlemen, Lex Luthor."

Lex soon stood up from his seat and made his way to the podium. Atticus wiped his eyes a bit as he sat quietly with Cherry, Lionel, and Patch.

"Thank you, Mayor Booker," Lex said as he took his turn to speak on behalf of Superman's passing. "It's no secret Superman and I had our differences, but this wasn't always the case. You would be surprised all the times he came to visit. The wisdom he would impart. I will miss those late night chats on my balcony."

Six soldiers soon began to carry Superman's coffin to where it would be placed. Atticus bowed his head a bit. Cherry patted him on the back a little to help comfort him for the loss as he seemed to be an orphan again.

"I'm very sorry." Lois said to Atticus softly.

Lex soon went back to talking to the crowd. "For Superman, always in our hearts." he then said.

Everybody got up from their chairs from that. Green Lantern soon flew up to where the torch would be lit. Once he was in position, he shot out his ring to ignite the torch. A flame was soon brought out right in front of the statue of Superman for his honor and memory. Lionel and Cherry did their best to comfort Atticus as he bowed his head. Everyone soon went back to where they were before.

* * *

After a while, Atticus was soon shown alone as he left a note for the others to read as he would go to find his Uncle Sombra and where he was going to be following his crystal powers. Atticus checked his voicemail as he got ready to go somewhere.

**_"Hey, Atticus, it's Thor..."_ **Thor's voice said on the voicemail.**_ "I'm really, really, really sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral, but I was reeeally busy with some other stuff. You know how my mother gets sometimes. Hahaha," _**he then added with a weak chuckle. **_"Anyway, if you're up for it, maybe next week, we could get some milkshakes. Just call me back? Okay, bye."_**

Atticus turned away in silence as he had other things on his mind right now besides the funeral. Crystal spikes began to show up, but they were pointing the way to somewhere. Atticus wiped his eyes as he came out and followed after the crystal spikes as he felt it was time for him to go. As he followed the crystal spikes, it began to get colder, but he didn't seem to be trembling from it.

"Atticus... Atticus~..." A distant voice called to the Wiccan boy as he followed it with his crystal spike trail.

"I can hear you but I won't, Some look for trouble, While others don't~" Atticus began to sing to himself as he followed the trail. "There's a thousand reasons, I should go about my day, And ignore your whispers, Which I wish would go away, oh, oh~"

"Atticus... Atticus~..." The distant voice called out.

"Oh, oh~" Atticus sang to himself.

"Atticus... Atticus... Atticus... Atticus~..." The distant voice called out.

"You're not a voice, You're just a ringing in my ear, And if I heard you, which I don't, I'm spoken for, I fear~," Atticus said before he stopped following briefly as he looked back home. "Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls, I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls, I've had my adventure, I don't need something new, I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you... Into the unknown, Into the unknown, Into the unknown~"

"Atticus... Atticus... Atticus... Atticus~..." The voice called out. "Atticus... Atticus... Atticus... Atticus... Atticus~..."

"What do you want? 'Cuz you've been keeping me awake, Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?~" Atticus asked softly to the mysterious voice. "Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?, Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be?, Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow, Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go, Into the unknown?, Into the unknown, Into the unknown~"

"Atticus... Atticus... Atticus... Atticus~..." The mysterious voice called out as his crystal powers began to make crystal spike make a path for him to follow.

"Whoa, oh, oh..." Atticus said softly as he began to come to the path a bit. "Are you out there?, Do you know me?, Can you feel me?, Can you show me?, Ah, ah, ah, ah~"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah~" The mysterious voice called out.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah~" Atticus smiled as walked down the path.

The two voices vocalized together for a while as Atticus kept going down the path as he seemed to be gone, far away from home.

"Where are you going?~" Atticus sang with the voice as he kept following it for a while. "Don't leave me alone, How do I follow you (Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah), Into the unknown? (Ah, ah, ah!)~" He soon stopped once he couldn't hear the voice anymore.

* * *

Cherry pet her kitten as she stared out her bedroom window as her parents had yet another argument downstairs which was muffled, but it still hurt her to hear. "Oh, Cleo, I know I told Atticus that I would give him some space to cope with the loss of Superman, but I feel like I should go check on him." she then said to her new pet as her parents were too busy yelling at each other to notice her or pay attention to her.

"Yeah." Cleo nodded.

Cherry soon heard her cell phone ring. Cleo came to get the phone.

"Ah, no, that's my phone," Cherry said to her cat before she reached out to get the phone and turned it on to answer. "Um, hello?"

"Cherry, get over here right now!" Patch's voice called through the phone.

"Patch?" Cherry blinked. "How are you using the phone?"

"That's not important!" Patch replied. "Just come over here right now!"

"Should I get the others too?" Cherry asked.

"Yes! And hurry!" Patch told her. "I'll explain everything once you, Lionel, and Thor have arrived."

"Okay! Calm down, I'm on my way!" Cherry replied before hanging up.

"We're going to the Kent house?" Cleo asked Cherry.

"Yes." Cherry nodded.

"Should we tell your parents?" Cleo asked.

"Hmm..." Cherry shrugged about that as they came downstairs to see that the adults were screaming at each other. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to Atticus's house, okay?" she then said to them.

"YOU MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I DON'T MATTER ANYMORE!" Bud glared.

"I NEVER SAID YOU DIDN'T MATTER!" Michelle glared back. "YOU BROUGHT THIS OUT ON YOURSELF!"

"I'll probably be home late." Cherry said flatly while Cleo could now see why the perky goth didn't want to tell her parents about what they were doing.

"Well, those two are a ray of sunshine." Cleo deadpanned.

"Come on, let's go." Cherry told her cat as they left the house.

"What a poor kitten..." A female voice said with cat-like eyes in the shadows of the darkness with another pair of cat eyes which belonged to an older cat. "I would take very good care of you... I promise you, we will meet sometime... I'll give you the best care."

Cherry looked around before shrugging as she made way to the Kent household to pay a visit to Atticus. And where she was going to be bringing Thor and Lionel with.

"I feel really bad for not making it to the funeral." Thor said softly.

"Ah, it's okay, big guy," Lionel smiled. "I'm sure Atticus understands. He's a pretty cool dude like that."

"I wish I could help him, but it's not like I could bring Superman back to life." Cherry replied as she led the way with Cleo.

* * *

They soon arrived at the Kent house and where they soon saw Patch by the window before seeing him come outside from the backdoor where the doggy door was.

"Hey, Patch." The three greeted.

"All right, Spot, what's going on?" Cherry asked Patch. "Does Atticus need a group therapy session or something?"

"He's missing! I haven't seen him come back after following that crystal path." Patch said as he pointed to the crystal path.

"Maybe this note he left on the door will have the answer of where he went." Thor said as he took the note off the door.

"Oh? There's a note?" Patch asked.

"Why didn't you read it?" Cherry replied. "Oh, right... Dogs can't read."

"Funny..." Lionel scoffed to that as Patch rolled his eyes. "What's it say, Thor?" he then asked.

"_'Cherry, by the time you, Lionel, Thor, and Patch have read this; I will be with Uncle Sombra'_?!" Thor said shocked after reading the first part before continuing to read. "_'Even though he might be evil, he is my only living relative I have; well, him and Jessica who isn't evil. Anyways, I'll be staying with him; maybe he'll also help me find a way to control my crystal powers. See you all as soon as I can.'_"

"What?!" Lionel gasped. "He went with that jerk over us?!"

"That's what it says." Thor shrugged.

"We have to get him back." Cherry glared.

"We better get Jessica to come too." Patch said.

"Is she home?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah, come on." Patch said as he led them back into the house as he went through his doggy door.

"...I'm the only one who can fit in there." Lionel said as he was a bit short before he came in the doggy door too, but he decided to unlock the door for Cherry and Thor to come in through.

Patch came to the staircase and ran up the stairs to go to Jessica's room as she was listening to music while reading a book to herself. They soon began to knock on Jessica's door so she could open the door since it was impolite to enter someone's room without their permission.

"Huh? What?" Jessica blinked before she took off her headphones. "Hello? Patch?"

"Jessica, we have company," Patch's voice replied. "Could we come in?"

"Oh, sure, come in, please." Jessica allowed as she put her book and music away for right now.

Patch, Cherry, Lionel, and Thor soon walked inside.

"Atticus has been so quiet, but it's giving me chills." Jessica said as she decided to put on a sweater.

"So you don't know he's gone?" Lionel asked.

"I'm afraid after the funeral, Atticus has been holed up in his room, so I thought I'd give him some space," Jessica said softly. "After all, he's in grief."

"No, we mean he's gone, like actually gone." Thor said as he showed her the note.

"Let me see that," Jessica said as she took a look at the note. "...Oh, my..."

"This is a disaster," Cherry face-palmed before she looked worried. "What if he never comes home?"

"Well, we can only hope he does." Lionel said.

"Thanks, Lionel, that's super helpful." Cherry deadpanned.

"After all, knowing Atticus, if his uncle is close by, then he'll most likely want to keep going to school." Thor said.

"If he even comes to school." Cherry replied.

"Yes, it's hard to say," Lionel added. "We don't even know where 'Uncle Dearest' is. He'll probably come back later and give up, after all, we're all his best friends." he then added with air quotes with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

**_Meanwhile with Atticus..._**

Atticus opened his eyes as he seemed to end up in a brand new different place, far away from home. "Hello?" he called out. "Is anybody out there? Uncle Sombra?"

"Yes, Atticus?" Sombra asked as he came out of a fancy house.

"Um, hey," Atticus said as he came towards Sombra. "I'm gonna be here for a while."

"To visit?" Sombra asked.

"No, actually, I wanna stay here with you for a while," Atticus replied. "Mostly to help get my crystal power under control."

"You're more than happy to stay," Sombra said. "And I'm sorry to hear about your adoptive father."

"It's okay," Atticus said softly as he came into the house. "Thank you for letting me stay, Uncle Sombra."

"Anytime, my boy... Anytime..." Sombra smiled as he came in before he smirked a bit to himself.

"Whoa." Atticus said as he saw how fancy the inside of the house was just as fancy as the outside.

"You like it?" Sombra smiled hopefully.

"I love it," Atticus replied. "It's like a mansion or something."

"Well, while staying in the human world to keep an eye on you; I had to make this mansion." Sombra smiled.

"You made this yourself?" Atticus asked.

"It wasn't easy, but I did it," Sombra smiled as he led Atticus to a special bedroom that looked fit for a king with a large bed, a private bathroom, and of course, plenty of books and exercise equipment. "What do you think of this room?"

"Wow... It looks fit for a king!" Atticus smiled back.

"It's actually fit for a prince." Sombra remarked.

"Wait, what?" Atticus asked.

"Yep, this is your room." Sombra smiled.

"Oh, you didn't have to." Atticus said.

"I wanted to," Sombra smiled. "Get settled and I'll see about some dinner for us."

"Okay," Atticus smiled before remembering who was still back at the Kent house. "Uncle Sombra, before I get settled in, could we possibly bring Jessica and Patch here since she's my sister and he's my pet?"

"Your sister and Patch?" Sombra repeated.

"They're still family," Atticus smiled. "If it's not too much trouble, of course."

"...I'll see what I can do." Sombra replied calmly.

"Thanks, Uncle Sombra." Atticus smiled before hugging him.

Sombra smiled back in the hug as he patted Atticus on the back before hiding a bit of a dark smirk to himself.

* * *

It might had been the end of Superman, but it was about to become a new beginning for Atticus. And where there would also be new Supermen and a new Superboy.

"What will become of Superboy? Will this story be completed? Will I get a better role by the next story?" Lionel narrated as he read from some index cards with a pair of glasses and he wore a tux, speaking in booming baritone narrator voice. "Find out next time for the Reign/Return of Superman on a computer screen near you! Until then, see you soon! Same Perky Time! Same Perky Channel!"

"Really?" Cherry asked.

"What? It adds to the drama," Lionel smirked innocently. "This oughta be a thrilling conclusion!"

Cherry rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Classic Lionel." Thor chuckled a bit as Lionel took a bow to the audience as a red curtain came down to end the story until further notice.

**_To Be Continued..._**


End file.
